MSM Can No Longer Ignore Theory That Wuhan Coronavirus Spread From a Chinese Lab Accident
It could have been natural. But it “also could have occurred as a laboratory accident, with, for example, an accidental infection of a laboratory worker.”
A lot of people owe Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) an apology because a microbiologist said “in no uncertain terms that the novel coronavirus could have been unleashed due to a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Cotton raised the possibility of China lying about the origins of the Wuhan coronavirus. He pointed out a lab near the first cases of the virus. He never once claimed China used it a weapon.
The MSM immediately jumped on Cotton instead of holding China’s feet to the fire. Reporters called him irresponsible, a conspiracy theorist, etc.
This Twitter thread contains just a few of the attacks:
So I think it’s time for a thread.
This was very frustrating to watch develop in real-time. The media overwhelmingly dismissed very real possibilities as conspiracy theories and helped China avoid real questions about the origin. https://t.co/GJObGvpjin
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) April 3, 2020
But I was reliably informed@SenTomCotton was crazy for pointing out this possibility
How many mistakes has the media made in their zeal to cover for the #CCP & attack @realDonaldTrump? https://t.co/1shp925vjO
— Jim Hanson (@JimHansonDC) April 3, 2020
Leslie covered the Chinese research paper that supports this theory:
So it may be that a sloppy scientist failed to follow proper decontamination protocol before exiting the laboratory. This is especially troubling as researchers who work in the highest level of biosafety containment must undergo vigorous training before using such facilities.
…The full report is here, including this conclusion:
In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city center and other densely populated places.
Molecular biologist Richard H. Ebright told The Daily Caller News Foundation that no one could eliminate the possibility of coronavirus originating from nature or a lab:
A molecular biologist who has been quoted as a coronavirus expert by The Washington Post and MSNBC said Thursday in no uncertain terms that the novel coronavirus could have been unleashed due to a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
China’s top virologist on bat-borne viruses, Shi Zhengli, has sworn on her life that the virus did not leak from her Wuhan lab, saying that its spread was “nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits.”
But Richard H. Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday that there is a real possibility that the virus entered the human population due to a laboratory accident.
When asked specifically if he believes the virus could have leaked from Shi’s lab in Wuhan, Ebright said: “Yes.”
“A denial is not a refutation,” Ebright said. “Especially not a denial based on ‘nature punishing the human race for keeping uncivilized living habits.’”
Ebright made this point in February as well. The Washington Post and MSNBC quoted him saying officials should exclude the theory of China using the virus as a bioweapon.
However, the outlets left out the part where he said “that the possibility that the virus entered the human population through a lab accident ‘cannot–and should not–be dismissed.'”
I guess the evidence has caught up to WaPo because, on Thursday, it published an article about the virus’s origins.
David Ignatius, the author, began his piece stating the coronavirus “produced a nasty propaganda battle between the United States and China.” I only see propaganda coming from China and our MSM, who seem intent of deflecting blame to President Donald Trump.
Ignatius included Ehbright’s full quote and acknowledged all the points Cotton made in his February remarks (emphasis mine):
There’s a competing theory — of an accidental lab release of bat coronavirus — that scientists have been puzzling about for weeks. Less than 300 yards from the seafood market is the Wuhan branch of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers from that facility and the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology have posted articles about collecting bat coronaviruses from around China, for study to prevent future illness. Did one of those samples leak, or was hazardous waste deposited in a place where it could spread?
Richard Ebright, a Rutgers microbiologist and biosafety expert, told me in an email that “the first human infection could have occurred as a natural accident,” with the virus passing from bat to human, possibly through another animal. But Ebright cautioned that it “also could have occurred as a laboratory accident, with, for example, an accidental infection of a laboratory worker.” He noted that bat coronaviruses were studied in Wuhan at Biosafety Level 2, “which provides only minimal protection,” compared with the top BSL-4.
Ebright described a December video from the Wuhan CDC that shows staffers “collecting bat coronaviruses with inadequate [personal protective equipment] and unsafe operational practices.” Separately, I reviewed two Chinese articles, from 2017 and 2019, describing the heroics of Wuhan CDC researcher Tian Junhua, who while capturing bats in a cave “forgot to take protective measures” so that “bat urine dripped from the top of his head like raindrops.”
Then Ignatius ended his piece, saying that determining the cause of the outbreak “isn’t a blame game.”
Yes, it is a blame game and a worthy one. This coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the entire world. It has killed people, shut down economies, and messed up people’s lives.
The world should hold China accountable for its actions. Coronavirus is deadly, but what if they unleash a virus like the ones in Contagion and Outbreak? Yes, I know the one in Contagion came from a natural mixture of a bat and pig. But you cannot convince me that labs in China and elsewhere have a virus similar to it.
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Comments
I got this from a friend and thought I would pass it on.
FACTS: The Coronavirus traveled all over the world from Wuhan, but did not reach Beijing or Shanghai … can anyone explain that?
There are so many questions, after all, where it all started, in China, the Chinese stock market did not collapse, but the American and European markets did … and when those markets collapsed, the Chinese bought big.
All roads lead back to China …
1. They created a virus for which they already had an antidote.
2. They purposely spread the virus for financial gain.
3. There is a clear demonstration of efficiency … they built hospitals in a few days. They had to be prepared with the organized projects … with the ordering of the equipment, the hiring of labor, the water and sewer network, the prefabricated building materials and the storage in an impressive volume, it all happened very quickly.
4. They caused chaos in the world, beginning with Europe and the rest of the western worlds.
5. Quickly decimating the economies of dozens of countries.
6. Stop production and manufacturing lines in factories and primary production in dozens of countries.
7. Causing the stock markets to crash and then they bought stocks, bonds and companies at bargain prices.
8. They then quickly gained control of the epidemic in their country. After all, they were ready and he was never really out of control.
9. In all this, they managed to lower the price of basic products, including the price of oil.
10. Now they are going back to mass production while the rest of the world is stopped.
Also note how quickly Chinese unions activated to “hoard” purchases of bus cargo to regional shopping centers across Australia, stripping our shelves of toilet paper and staple foods. It happened before most of us knew what was happening, even before we knew what the Coronavirus was.
PS: Read the 1999 book by Chinese Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, “Unrestricted War: China’s Master Plan to Destroy America,” on Amazon. Everything is there.
It is worth reflecting ..
Just think about this …
How come Russia and North Korea are almost totally free of Covid-19? Because they are strong allies of China. The lowest reported cases of Covid-19 are from these 2 countries. On the other hand, South Korea / United Kingdom / Italy / Spain and Asia are seriously affected. And how is it that Wuhan is suddenly free from the deadly virus?
China will say that its initial drastic measures they took were very severe and that Wuhan was locked up to contain the spread to other areas. I’m sure they are using the virus antidote that was already available before they released it.
Why was Beijing not affected at all?
And another interesting fact … Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Wuhan at the peak of the outbreak … why did he put on a simple RM1 face mask to visit those affected areas? As president, shouldn’t you have been covered from head to toe in a hazardous materials suit? Perhaps because the antidote had already been injected, there was no need to worry?
There is no doubt that this is a biological warfare. And the world will be so different when this crisis calms down. Maybe this is just stage one …
Or Commies lie about EVERYTHING that makes them look bad. Especially pandemic infection/death rates.
Joe Biden Today:
“Why that was no Chinese Lab Accident.
That was my Wife…..”
“If this were an intentional germ warfare attack, what would the Communist Chinese Government have done differently?”
“Nothing.”
AND…..
….the DISINFORMATION that is being put out now in America that it was just a Lab Accident is Exactly what a military intelligence agency would disseminate…..
We are best served to ….
“Consider it War, and that this was a Germ Warfare Sneak Attack”
did not reach Beijing or Shanghai … can anyone explain that
********************************************
easily, if an accident then most likely its there and reports are suppressed. if it was done on purpose then those are the 2 areas where they would not want it to be so….it ain’t there. see point one about the reports…
I see it your way. If there was some “antidote” it would long have since leaked out that people were being given a “little green pill”. The evidence, from urn data, is that deaths in Wuhan were 50-100K. No big deal to report nothing elsewhere.
RE:
“1. They created a virus for which they already had an antidote.”
Explains why the Communist Chinese Congress Critters, Pelosi, Schumer, etc. have not come down with it.
Also explains why Nasty Pelosi was encouraging people to be “Bug Chasers” in San Fran China Town just a couple of weeks or so back………
2. They purposely spread the virus for financial gain.
Rudy, were you the person who made out the time line and showed that this “Virus Escape” started right after another round of tariffs were imposed on the Communists?
Food for thought about this……
“DNC Club Cancels July 13th Convention…
Two things are very clear:
1. The Club was never dependent on using Joe Biden as the democrat presidential nominee; and
2. The Club knew something would happen this spring to erase the political norms….”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/04/02/dnc-club-cancels-july-13th-convention/
I raised possibility
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/04/shocker-u-s-intelligence-says-china-under-reported-cases-deaths-related-to-wuhan-coronavirus/#comment-1029394
Thanks Leo for doing the Time Line.
RE:
dmacleo says “many people saying (no central repo just comments I have seen since first week Jan) that they had same exact symptoms in mid to late november to very early december lending non-verified credence to possible release in late october early november time frame.
what happened last week or so of october 2019? another big round of tariffs against china.
whose economy tied more to a federal level government, china or most of the other countries in the world?
even russia does not control businesses as much as china does. who has the best chance of being slightly better positioned to enforce their will when/if global economy goes tits up?
yeah….totally a fictional scenario I know…
can I prove anything?
nope not at all.
do I think its possible?
I think its very possible.
is it probable?
this I cannot answer.
so the real question re this thought is what is the possible vs probable ratio.
and I do not know.
nor will I profess to know.”
It will be so sweet when the Communists’ “ownership” of all those stocks, bonds and companies….
….GETS REVOKED, like Obama did to the GM bond owners!
They were all bought with dirty, laundered money.
“FACTS: The Coronavirus traveled all over the world from Wuhan, but did not reach Beijing or Shanghai … can anyone explain that?”
I believe it was a purposeful release by the Chinese communists. However, even though I agree with most of what you said, how do you know that Beijing and Shanghai were untouched? I have some information that suggests Shanghai was shutdown for several months. I don’t know the truth and I don’t believe anything coming from China.
You need permission to live in Beijing, which is not granted to the average peasant.
There is no such thing as an antidote for a virus; it is not a poison. statement #1 is complete BS.
China’s economy has taken a hit, and trust in China as a supply chain partner is taking a bigger hit. One can theorize that China believes the rest of the world will suffer more than they do, but that makes no sense as China is more densely populated then it’s trading partners. So statement number two is a tangled mess.
They have previously built fast field hospitals for the sires outbreak, they can pop up high-rise like a mushroom. they don’t need to demonstrate anything to anyone.
China does have a long term plan to replace the USA as the world’s dominant power, which they have been executing with considerable help from us. The American public rush to purchase throwaway junk such as super size televisions and will purchase from the lowest cost producer in preference The USA or countries we have cultural ties to. That’s on us, China did not invent the American consumer
Fantasy, blibbering, blubbering, and conspiracy theories do us no help in combating either China’s plans or our own self-destructive instincts.
“There is no such thing as an antidote for a virus; it is not a poison. statement #1 is complete BS.”
Poor choice of words perhaps, but you knew what he meant. It’s BS to call it BS. Especially sine it is also used in reference to disease. Perhaps you should check a dictionary:
Noun
a medicine or other remedy for counteracting the effects of poison, disease, etc.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/antidote
“So statement number two is a tangled mess.”
You are incapable of thinking like a Chinese commie.
I got as far as “ACTS: The Coronavirus traveled all over the world from Wuhan, but did not reach Beijing or Shanghai … can anyone explain that?”
Yes I can explain that…who ever thinks this has legs CLEARLY struggles to be able to rub two or more brain cells together.
Several days ago in PJMedia,Jim Treacher cited an article by two Chinese researchers who pointed out that the virus in part was related to the horseshoe bat. Insofar as the closest living horseshoe bats are about 550 miles from Wuhan, that means the virus could not have originated in the Wuhan wet market. Horseshoe bats are, however, used in the Wuhan biological labs near the wet market. Assuming the Chinese did not release the virus intentionally, we are led to conclude this was an accident. Nevertheless, the Chinese coverup significantly increased the US’s exposure. IMHO, we should therefore, as individuals, refuse to buy Made in China products.
Someone I know works at a lab currently studying the Wuhan virus. Given what he has to go through every day cycling out of containment, I wouldn’t be surprised if a scientist in China, either out of complacency or arrogance, eventually decided to cut corners. Combine that with the “big man”/seniority complex common in Asian cultures, and you have a believable recipe for this disaster.
To answer the question “Is Huang Yan Ling ‘Patient 0’ ?”, I recommend the YouTube video “I Found The Source of the Coronavirus” by laowhy86
https://www.reddit.com/r/HuangYanLing/comments/fthxoh/i_found_the_source_of_the_coronavirus_after_2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
Unfortunately, the story it tells sounds like a bunch of grad-level researchers messing with bat viruses that unleashed a global biological disaster.
Hanlon’s razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
It’s a story more about naïvety and not malice.
Sort of like juggling H-bombs.
First of all, how do we know bats were not sold at the wet market? Just because one person said so? Second, the virus may have originated in a horseshoe bat but been transmitted to another bat or to a pangolin. The natural transmission narrative remains 100% plausible and possible. The whole point of this article is that the lab narrative is also 100% plausible and possible, and that the truth may be one, the other, or a combination of the two (i.e. animals from the lab ended up at the market).
The other point here is that all talk of the deliberate release of a bioweapon remains crazy talk, and deflects attention from the plausible possibility that a lab was involved. As many people have pointed out, every time someone asks about the lab they are ridiculed as if they’d asked about a bioweapon, which they have not. Therefore every person who does spread the bioweapon narrative is helping the CCP, and should be suspected of being paid by them. (Just going Alinsky on them, and holding them to their own standard of illogic and paranoia.)
Another Chinese propogandist and apologist. You know nothing more than anyone here, probably less.
The Chinese are bad and would cause harm to the USA in a skinny minute if they could get away with it. That negates any theory that it’s crazy to consider the China virus as bioweapon.
What is crazy is to not consider it.
This is the very definition of paranoia. To seriously consider the possibility that someone has committed a crime of this magnitude, without any foundation whatsoever, simply because they’re bad people, is what paranoia is. And it discredits anything else one has to say, which is why I accuse you of being in China’s pay. Because you are serving the Chinese interest by derailing any discussion of how they may have contributed to this crisis, and taking into crazy-land where no rational person is willing to follow. That’s what the Chinese government wants, and you are doing it, so by your own insane standards you stand accused.
Not by any normal standards; a normal person would require some kind of actual evidence, not merely speculation about “cui bono”. A normal person does not accuse others of anything merely because they could have done it, or because they would have done it. A normal person needs at least some actual direct evidence that they have done it.
In your continued attack on the bioweapon hypothesis you are presuming the CCP is not capable of acting beyond the pale, or in (what we would consider) an illogical manner.
Every possible scenario should be considered in the current situation. Fixating on “accident” or “natural causes” can possibly deflect investigations away from the truth.
It is certainly capable of doing so. But it is the very definition of paranoia to seriously suspect someone of a horrible crime merely because he is capable of it. It’s crazy to seriously suspect China of doing such a thing when all the evidence is perfectly consistent with far more likely and less sinister explanations.
You are a nut. As simple as that.
You are Chinese apologist. Simple as that.
And as usual you run your mouth about something for which you lack any understanding.
Old Chinese proverb: Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you. The Chinese-in-charge are more than capable of killing a few million, much less a few thousand of their inhabitants, to defeat the West, i.e. the US.
Milhouse, you’re a very bright guy and are obviously very knowledgeable in some areas. But sometimes your logic is, well, illogical.
“The other point here is that all talk of the deliberate release of a bioweapon remains crazy talk, and deflects attention from the plausible possibility that a lab was involved.”
If the virus is bioweapon (released intentionally or accidentally) it would have to involve a lab. Indeed, only the bioweapon scenario requires the involvement of a lab, because labs are where bioweapons are created/developed, tested, and evaluated. Therefore how can virus-as-bioweapon speculation deflect attention from possible lab involvement?
It deflects attention from possible lab involvement in exactly the way this article and several previous ones have pointed out: By derailing any discussion of such a possibility into Alex Jones territory. Just look at this forum. Every damn time one of the bloggers raises the possibility of a lab involvement, we end up discussing bioweapons instead. Every time someone asks a reasonable question about the possible involvement of a bio lab in the genesis of this crisis, they are answered as if they’d asked about bioweapons. That narrative is easily dismissed as a paranoid conspiracy theory, because it is, and the question that was actually asked is therefore never answered, and the person who asked it is deterred from pursuing his question for fear of being perceived as a paranoid conspiracy theorist. And they get away with this bait-and-switch because there are people posting the crazy theory. Those people are doing the Chinese’s work, whether they know it or not. So by their own rules they should be accused of doing it knowingly and for pay.
It may be true that one should not attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence – but the opposite is also true when speaking of our foremost enemy.
If we are to consider ALL possibilities, the possibility that this was a bio-weapon attack MUST be considered. You inappropriately call that “paranoia”. It’s not. It is about “not being stupid and naive” in the face of a determined, cold-blooded enemy.
No, the natural transmission theory is not at all plausible nor possible. The only Intermediate Horseshoe bats in Wuhan, indeed all of Hubei province, are confined to two labs. The Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Wuhan Institute for Virology. They simply would not have contact with other bat species or, a Pangolin? Pangolins are endangered and not even thee ChiComs use them for medical research. There is simply no way in a laboratory environment one of these Horseshoe bats could “naturally” infect another species. That would constitute a lab accident regardless of whether or not that other species were another bat species or a human. Then you’d have to account for how the infected individual made it out of the lab to start a global pandemic.
Easy to answer if the infected individual is an asymptomatic human. Not if it’s either the Horseshoe bat or another type of bat native to the region. Animals that are infected during research (and they all are considering they study infectious diseases at both labs) don’t leave alive. They are supposed to be destroyed and cremated as the law requires.
This doesn’t always happen; apparently there’s a lot of money selling exotic animals on these wet markets. Some researchers will sell the animals to street vendors. There is precedent for this; there’s currently a former researcher from a lab in Beijing serving a long prison sentence for selling surplus-to-requirements monkeys and rats on the live markets and he made the equivalent of $1M before he was caught and convicted. That’s the kind of score a lot of people can’t resist if they think there’s a good chance they can get away with it.
Researchers at the South China University did a study and they couldn’t rule out the possibility that some meat from the Horseshoe bats ended up on for sale at the wet market. Or as they put it, “tissue samples.” I won’t go so far as to say it’s a routine or common occurrence but it does happen. You find unscrupulous people in all walks of life. It’s probably one of the least best kept secrets among Chinese scientists who do animal research.
There is no way this could have been a natural transmission. There simply are no natural populations of Intermediate Horseshoe bats within 560 miles of Wuhan. One way or another someone in one of these labs screwed up. They didn’t use proper PPE, or they didn’t use proper decontamination techniques, they mishandled a laboratory animal, or they succumbed to temptation and decided to make a little extra income (or lots of extra income).
But it had to have happened in what should have been a controlled laboratory environment.
Yes, the pandemic could easily have started in a Wuhan wet market. Research assistants in the PRC aren’t well paid, and many are in the habit of selling surplus lab animals to street vendors.
Exactly the kind of vendors you’d find in wet markets all over China.
https://nypost.com/2020/02/22/dont-buy-chinas-story-the-coronavirus-may-have-leaked-from-a-lab/
“…And then there is this little-known fact: Some Chinese researchers are in the habit of selling their laboratory animals to street vendors after they have finished experimenting on them.
You heard me right.
Instead of properly disposing of infected animals by cremation, as the law requires, they sell them on the side to make a little extra cash. Or, in some cases, a lot of extra cash. One Beijing researcher, now in jail, made a million dollars selling his monkeys and rats on the live animal market, where they eventually wound up in someone’s stomach.
…The evidence points to SARS-CoV-2 research being carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The virus may have been carried out of the lab by an infected worker OR CROSSED OVER INTO HUMANS WHEN THEY UNKNOWINGLY DINED ON A LAB ANIMAL. Whatever the vector, Beijing authorities are now clearly scrambling to correct the serious problems with the way their labs handle deadly pathogens.”
The Chinese government suspects that this pandemic started when the coronavirus leaked from one of their laboratories. They have two labs in Wuhan that do research on Intermediate Horshoe bats. The Chinese are very interested in these bats because while they carry coronaviruses they are very long lived. Long life is very important in Chinese culture, which is why so much of traditional Chinese medicine is intended to prolong life.
On February 14th President Xi chaired an emergency meeting in Beijing where he stressed improving biosecurity at Chinese research labs. The next day the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology released a new directive titled: “Instructions on strengthening biosecurity management in microbiology labs that handle advanced viruses like the novel coronavirus.”
No one in the Chinese government has straightforwardly admitted that the research labs in Wuhan are the source. But Xi’s statements, and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology’s recent directive, strongly indicate they suspect that’s the case.
If this particular coronavirus is linked to Intermediate Horseshoe bats then one thing is certain; it could not have been a natural transmission from animal to human. There are no naturally occurring colonies in Hubei province. The researchers have to go to other provinces further south such as Yunnan to collect these bats. It beggars belief that a bat from rural southern China, their preferred habitat, could have found its way to Wuhan. And if it did then the odds of it staying in a city of approximately 12 million people is vanishingly small. As I understand it, this species of bat avoids urban areas.
China’s researchers and scientists also strongly suspect the source of the outbreak was one of the two research labs in Wuhan. Also in February scientists and researchers at the South China University arrived at that conclusion in a paper they published online on the university’s website. The interesting thing was they couldn’t rule out the possibility that while maybe the whole bat(s) didn’t end up for sale on the wet market maybe some of the meat did (or as they put it “tissue samples). That would explain why no one can confirm these particular bats were for sale; I’m not expert but I imagine one bat species breast fillet looks like any other bat’s. Also it would be easier to smuggle out the meat in pieces rather than the whole bat. The Wuhan Institute of Virology is a level 4 lab under the watchful eye of the People’s Liberation Army. It’s one of two bioweapons labs in the country. Note: I am not, NOT, saying the coronavirus was engineered as a bioweapon. It isn’t very lethal especially against the young and healthy such as soldiers, marines, etc. There aren’t too many geriatrics with underlying health conditions in the U.S. armed forces. But I imagine since bioweapons research does go on there (there are several labs within the Institute of Virology most of which do legitimate medical research) then the security is probably pretty tight. Probably too tight to smuggle out a whole bat.
We can rule out natural transmission of the virus as Intermediate Horseshoe bats don’t naturally occur anywhere near Wuhan. But while not naturally occurring there were hundreds of specimens that had been artificially placed there. Either a lab worker got infected or lab workers sold some of the meat to vendors at the wet market.
Nobody can rule either possibility out. I realize the latter scenario may seem farfetched but it does happen, and more often than people realize.
Thanks for posting that very interesting.
The propaganda machine will tow any line their overlords tell them to.
TOUCHE!
There is a lot of that closed-mindedness going around these days. My pet issue these days is that it is verboten to even introduce the idea that maybe shutting down our economy is NOT an option. It absolutely belongs in the discussion. It is Trump NOT Fauci or any of the medical experts who decide where the razor’s edge lies. I say we follow Japan’s lead by requiring everyone to wear face masks as they continue with their lives.
If this is truly a war, then we must accept that casualties are unavoidable. Since when do fight wars only if nobody gets hurt? We have never shut down our economy for any war. Why this one?
This is true. It would probably have been far better to have called for all older people and those with compromised immune systems to strictly isolate themselves, and spent a few billion dollars on providing for their every need at home, and leave the rest of the population exposed. Most of us would get infected, a good many would get sick, some would need a hospital — but not enough to overwhelm them, and 10,000 or so would die, which is far less than the number that will die from the economic disruption and the fear (including but far from limited to those who will die because they delay routine medical treatment and tests).
Of the three options, 1. Do nothing, 2. Clamp down on everything, and 3. Isolate and protect the vulnerable, #3 is the least costly followed by #1 with #2, what is happening now, being by far the most costly and damaging to the people (but not to .gov). They have not wasted this crisis at all.
I have noted that whether intentional or not, the Wuhan virus is taking the world down several critical economic notches. China can afford to lose as it has both a population buffer and the CCP mindset of converting sacrifice of human life into an advantage as seen with their suppression of portions of population. That said, the cover-up is the really important pount. That was intentional. That is what really counts.
As for intentional release as a bioweapon….that gives pause, because that ushers in the unthinkable…. That requires a full on response. A crushing removal of the CCP and or rendering China impotent both military and economic. No one is prepared for that…yet. So back to using only the cover-up ….it is enough that requires an appropriately severe response. For now.
Ask yourself:
“If this were an intentional germ warfare attack, what would the Communist Chinese Government have done differently?”
Answer: “Nothing!!!!!!”
If it were a deliberate attack they would not have released it in China. Taiwan maybe, but far more likely they’d have done it in the USA or Europe, and kept their fingerprints completely off it.
No, just like (maybe) the fish tank couple…The wife takes non-lethal amount while hubby is done in. You WANT to have plausible deniability.
Why would you want plausible deniability, when it would be far easier to do it without attracting any suspicion in the first place, so you won’t even be asked to deny it? On the contrary, if the virus had started in the USA and spread from there to China, they would be loudly making the exact same accusation against the USA, and while few would take it seriously nobody would think to accuse them instead.
“…they would not have released it in China.”
Pure poppycock from a Chinese apologist.
They have no concern for killing a few million Chinese. They would even run them over with tanks in the middle of Tiananmen Square.
Hear Hear!
How many Millions and Millions did Mao murder?
The current Chinese government are not Mao, just as the later Soviet governments were not Stalin. The current Chinese government does not believe in an ideology — their only interest is to remain in power and steal as much money for themselves as they can.
“The current Chinese government does not believe in an ideology — …”
As is typical, you know nothing of the Chinese. They believe in the same thing the communist Stalin and Mao believed.
“their only interest is to remain in power and steal as much money for themselves as they can.”
No shit. You think? Add world domination in there and you claim limited expertise. Add in the understanding that they murder people every day just like the old commies did and perhaps you can scurry out from under that rock.
And why not? How many Chinese travel to China from around the world to celebrate the Chinese New Year? Factor that into your thinking and maybe you can learn to refrain from speaking exclusively in declarative sentences.
Why not? Because they hurt themselves and are now being held guilty by the whole world, not of this crazy bioweapon theory, which only insane people are accusing them of, but of endangering everyone by covering it up for months, and as this article shows of perhaps having started the whole thing through their typical corruption and negligence.
That assumes a concern for their own populace for which there is not the slightest evidence.
NYTimes:
China Created a Fail-Safe System to Track Contagions. It Failed.
After SARS, Chinese health officials built an infectious disease reporting system to evade political meddling. But when the coronavirus emerged, so did fears of upsetting Beijing.
Tom Friedman hardest hit.
My intuition says this was an accident, and the coverup failed massively. Clearly China knew what would happen as they apparently cleaned out Australia of medical supplies BEFORE the world knew what was coming down the pike. This whole mess shows the terrorists the way to take out the West is not by blowing up planes, by by developing biological agents.
China has ALWAYS said they intend to destroy us and they seek world domination. With every cheap piece of Chinese crap we buy, we help Chinkmaster Xi build his 2nd aircraft carrier. Then his 3rd. And so on. This is not rocket science. The solution is for the entire rest of the world to shun and boycott China, because their economy cannot stand on domestic production and consumption alone.
But I expect very little to happen – because basically, CEO’s and politicians are greedy, shortsighted, and dumb. And in the end sometime after I am long gone, I expect China to win and prove me right.
Have you seen this?
President Trump Invokes Defense Production Act Taking Control of 3M Production…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/04/02/president-trump-invokes-defense-production-act-taking-control-of-3m-production/
U.S. Multinational Company 3M Sells Masks and PPE To Foreign Governments While U.S. States Look for Products….
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/04/02/u-s-multinational-company-3m-sells-masks-and-ppe-to-foreign-governments-while-u-s-states-look-for-products/
anyone question on how the SEIU “found” 39 million face masks, SEIU doesn’t make them.
A coverup doesn’t imply a deliberate act. The Chinese have no problem with covering up embarrassments, screwups, disasters, crimes, or miscalculations.
“A coverup doesn’t imply a deliberate act.”
Nor does it imply and accident. On any scale you would be more likely to cover up an intentional act than an accident.
You have to be a real thinker to believe the Chinese (who new what this was going to do worldwide) would cover up an accident, that were it admitted would save hundreds of thousands of lives.
soon the stories MAY remove the word accident.
nah a world power that plays the long game would never do anything like that.
I expect my ShittyWok follower to pipe in soon…
Accident?
Like Planned Parenthood is……. birth control?
First of all, virology labs are dangerous places, and the precautions they are supposed to take are stringent, due to the possibility of an accident.
This video has been floating around, for a while.
I Found The Source of the Coronavirus
laowhy86
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpQFCcSI0pU&feature=youtu.be
The author claims to be fluent in Chinese, and does put together a reasonable case for accidental release, including the name of a person who may have been digitally disappeared.
But your first points effectively argue against that being realistic…….
“Sloppy” technique only need happen once. How many times do we do things automatically we forget we did it. That leaves small opportunities to mess up if in a hurry. Shortcuts.
No, it doesn’t. Your argument has the same flaw as that of the 9/11 Truthers — it assigns almost supernatural competence to the very same people it accuses of being so incompetent they left all these clues to their dastardly deeds. On the contrary, given what we know about communist societies in general, and about China in particular, how can you possibly entertain the idea that the necessary precautions at such a facility would not be breached from time to time?
The very fact that, as westerners, we have an image of the Chinese (whether accurate or not) as sloppy, corner-cutting bribe takers can be played by the CCP to lend verisimilitude to the “accident” theory, providing cover for an overt act.
Nothing should be off the table.
“Nothing should be off the table.”
Absolutely.
Senator Cotton is from Arkansas, not Alaska.
Wish he was…
Yup, so long as he didn’t take Sullivan’s seat.
We are both thinking “you know who”…
In 100 years some dumbass socialist college professor will be teaching his class how the racist Americans were spreading the disease on purpose and for proof will show an email about distribution of virus masks.
The Sean Lennon quote was a laser beam.
There are so many facts we don’t know, but many who are uninformed behave like they can logically rule out theories.
Rush is having a field day this morning challenging the integrity of the “experts”. It has appeared to me for days that Fauci and Birx are not on the same page. And yesterday, Fauci appears on CNN feeding into the lie that Trump is not listening to their advice about requiring a national lock down. Finally, the “conservative” media seems to be waking up to the possibility that Trump is being led down the path to socialism by the very people in his close circle. The worst of all is the Mnuchin/Kudlow Show gleefully walking us right into socialism.
Wake up Trump!!!! Make that speech! We don’t have to choose between surrendering to the Wuhan virus by doing nothing (what I call “the libertarian alternative”) or surrendering our economy and personal freedoms (“the communist takeover” alternative). Call on Americans to rally to save their economy and freedoms. Don’t accept a government takeover of everything. Get out there, wear your face masks, take the necessary hygienic precautions and get back to work. Our business people can figure out the particulars that apply to whatever business they are in. Maybe some businesses need government help but most already know what to do.
Me? I need a haircut. How hard is it to imagine that it is worth the risk to get a haircut?
Ignatius had numerous on one meetings with Barry so that that he would promote Barry policies ina prestigious column and newspaper wapo. Iggy has also gone to a both sides equal venal – John lactarre type of position – in his own spy books. So kind out there by see iggy easily being ccp butt boy or doing whatever diectly or in direct to help Dems. Since the did same for Barry.
Also still never see how virus got out of China. To infect rest of world. Seems like ccp let Wuhan refugees go all over world but not China.
The media did not make mistakes.
The made choices, conscious, intentional choices.
I am liking Tom Cotton.
Is there a downside I am missing?
He knows where all the Clinton and Obama “bodies” are buried?
There are two ways to make China take responsibility for this horror. One, the entire free world stop trading with them PERIOD. and Two, make them pay for the damage they have caused by cancelling the US debt they hold in US bonds. If they gain from this then they have won, intentional or not.
Of course they can!
Did Pravda ever change their tune, until the Soviet Union was destroyed.
Destruction of the stranglehold of the shit passing as journalists/reporters/news outlets are destroyed.