Above My Pay Grade...Genomic epidemiology of novel coronavirus (hCoV-19)

The links below were posted in this comment by Iska on this thread at THEBURNINGPLATFORM <<

Iska Waran comment:

I stumbled across this layman’s Twitter feed and now I’m checking in several times a day. https://twitter.com/__philipn__ As he says – “not a doctor or medical professional”, BUT he seems smart and via this feed has been collecting and disseminating theories and studies about possible use of ACE inhibitors and “ARBs” (Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers) against COVID19. The initial theory was that since the virus attacks via the ACE2 receptor, an ARB like Losartan might block that receptor and deny the virus access to the cell. Not sure that will prove to be true, but ARBs and ACEi’s seem to generally stymie viruses.
A few days ago The Lancet published an article that theorizes that ARBs and ACEi’s might put people at greater risk – since they “upregulate” (increase) ACE2 (which the virus uses to attack), but the counter theory is that having high levels of ACE2 is necessary to avoid sever lung and heart damage. This theory goes on that the virus -after using ACE2 to gain entry – “downregulates” (decreases) ACE2, leaving the patient at grave risk of serious heart and lung damage. Therefore, ACEi’s and ARBs (both of which upregulate ACE2) are likely PROTECTIVE – the exact OPPOSITE of what the Lancet article says.
There are plenty of rabbit holes at that Twitter account to go down if you’re so-inclined. Here’s a good start: https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1238833421926858752
Hope Karl Denninger sees this. I got the Ban Hammer there long ago (LOL), but he should know that the Lancet article against hypertension meds is NOT universally accepted, by any means, and could have it EXACTLY backwards.

 One of the retweets from Eric Topol (link above)  references this map and NEXTSTRAIN

Nextstrain is an open-source project to harness the scientific and public health potential of pathogen genome data.



Here is a map showing 497 of 497 genomes sampled between Dec 2019 and Mar 2020. 

 Link to the map LINK<<<

Below is the twitter post embedded

Thanks to #opendata sharing by @UW @UWVirology & @GISAID, we've updated https://t.co/SDPCOcsnMX to include 7 new sequences from Washington State.

Most cluster w prev WA samples, but 2 do not. From the nearby seqs, these may indicate infection while travelling to Iran & Europe. pic.twitter.com/UKVtpuA2b8

— Nextstrain (@nextstrain) March 14, 2020

There are definitely lots of rabbit holes to follow.............

This Sums Up The Biden Campaign..

Speaking of Biden, meet Jason Howerton

The union worker who Joe Biden tried to intimidate and told he didn't need an "AR-14" literally got a rifle engraved with "AR-14" and "Full of shit."

This man is a gosh damn LEGEND. 🔥🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/F1GDgtXRmJ

— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) March 14, 2020

In This Time Of Crisis, Joe B. Sends A PSA...

  " Please practice this technique when sneezing"

 

Eff The Wuhan Flu... Wait Until Some Asshole Eats One Of These...

Bat Cat Soup? What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Irony....

 THIS<<<

Levity...

Interesting Job Posting Back On 11/15/2019

 Posted in a comment thread HERE by Hardscrabble Farmer

Public Health Advisor (Quarantine Program)

Job ID HHS-CDC-D3-20-10640010 Date posted 11/15/2019 Location Dallas, Texas, El Paso, Texas, Houston, Texas, Seattle, Washington, Anchorage, Alaska, Los Angeles, California, San Diego, California, San Francisco, California, Miami, Florida, Atlanta, Georgia, Honolulu, Hawaii, Chicago, Illinois, Boston, Massachusetts, Detroit, Michigan, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Newark, New Jersey, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, San Juan Department: Department of Health And Human Services
Agency: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Job Announcement Number: HHS-CDC-D3-20-10640010
SALARY RANGE: $51440.0 to $93077.0/Per Year
OPEN PERIOD: 2019-11-15 to 2020-05-15
SERIES & GRADE: GS--9/11

JOB SUMMARY:
Serves as a project representative for a program responsible for preventing the importation and spread of communicable diseases.


LINK  <<<

Friday Femme Fatale...

  What's coming for us?..............

Meanwhile, At The Local Supermarket Near The Bunker

I just got a text message at 7:30pm from the local market.........

Jesus.............

 



It's like this:

If You're Gonna Get Stuck In The House For A While....

Fu@K It All Friday....

  Picked myself up a good bottle of Blanton's

Reader Jeff emailed me some anti Wuhan Flu PPE

and a meme...

Reader Nick sends this..... 

 

Some People Are Scumbags... Malware Alert..

Sent in by Leigh.

From Here <<

This article at KREBS ON SECURITY<<


 Cybercriminals constantly latch on to news items that captivate the public’s attention, but usually they do so by sensationalizing the topic or spreading misinformation about it. Recently, however, cybercrooks have started disseminating real-time, accurate information about global infection rates tied to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to infect computers with malicious software.

In one scheme, an interactive dashboard of Coronavirus infections and deaths produced by Johns Hopkins University is being used in malicious Web sites (and possibly spam emails) to spread password-stealing malware.

Late last month, a member of several Russian language cybercrime forums began selling a digital Coronavirus infection kit that uses the Hopkins interactive map as part of a Java-based malware deployment scheme. The kit costs $200 if the buyer already has a Java code signing certificate, and $700 if the buyer wishes to just use the seller’s certificate.

“It loads [a] fully working online map of Corona Virus infected areas and other data,” the seller explains. “Map is resizable, interactive, and has real time data from World Health Organization and other sources. Users will think that PreLoader is actually a map, so they will open it and will spread it to their friends and it goes viral!”

The sales thread claims the customer’s payload can be bundled with the Java-based map into a filename that most Webmail providers allow in sent messages. The seller claims in a demonstration video that Gmail also allows it, but the video shows Gmail still warns recipients that downloading the specific file type in question (obscured in the video) can be harmful. The seller says the user/victim has to have Java installed for the map and exploit to work, but that it will work even on fully patched versions of Java. 


MORE HERE<<

Basic Info: Calories Per "Dollar"

In the wake of the "Corn Virus" folks going to their local grocery, big box, and dollar stores are finding bare shelves where normally food items, toilet paper/paper towels, disinfectants, bleach, etc. were abundant. This reminds me of the "panic buying" of .22 ammo a few years ago where people didn't really need .22 ammo, but would buy it where they found it resulting in shortages for a long time. Don't get me wrong. I like toilet paper. It is nice to have, but it is luxury rather than a necessity. It is good to have and was in the local Dollar General as of yesterday.  As for big chain retailers, there is only one WalMart in the county where I live and I haven't been there since the hype surrounding the Kung Flu began. I have been told by some friends of mine that two of the WalMarts in the neighboring county have been picked clean of the items mentioned in the last two weeks. Why people suddenly feel the urge to run out and buy TP and paper towels, I don't know.  I would just say that in my lifetime I've lived through about several "end of days" events (the cold war, the coming of the second ice age, acid rain, depletion of the ozone, Y2K,  global warming, climate change, killer bees, West Nile virus, SARS, Swine Flu, Obama, etc. are a few that come to mind). We will more than likely live through the "Corn Virius" aka COVID-19 too. Though I never have considered myself a "Doomsday Prepper", I do believe in being prudent and common sense preparation.  A big part of me being prepared is having an adequate supply food on hand (enough for several months) that I like to eat and can be easily kept and cooked. Some of the foods I keep on hand allows me to prepare one of the my favorite meals. That is cornbread and beans. This delicious simple meal can be prepared from cornmeal mix, some powdered milk, an egg/powdered eggs, dried beans with a little cooking oil or canned bacon and salt and pepper added. Not only is this a delicious meal, it also is super high in calories. The ingredients can be kept a long time at normal room temps. They also can be stored in the freezer, vacuum sealed in Mylar bags, or dry canned. I understand that this might not work for everyone, but it is an example of "survival food" that works for me. I buy what I would normally eat (with the exception of items such as powdered milk).  I am not saying go out and spend the "rent money" on a ton of groceries, but having a few weeks on hand sure can make thing easier when times get hard. Most who visit here are fully aware that so called "survival foods" are some of the worst values when viewed from a calories per dollar perspective. I have heard from several people recently who told me that when they attempted to buy survival foods such as Mountain House, Augason, etc., these foods were unavailable, etc.  Dehydrated and freeze dried foods are handy and some are very good, but they are just food. They are not a good calorie per dollar value. There are many more viable options out there. The guy in video does a good job explaining how to convert your hard earned money into as many calories as possible. This is the kind of info you might want to pass along to friends and family who have not had the life experiences some of us have lived through. Stay safe, wash your hands often, avoid crowds and this too will pass.

Wuhan Flu. An Interesting Graphic Of Cases Outside China..

{UPDATED March 12th} Total Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Outside Mainland China.

Source: WHO#COVID #COVID_19 #COVID19 #Coronavirus #CoronaVirusUpdate #CoronavirusPandemic pic.twitter.com/mGj3nwAm9j

— Worldwide Engineering (@wrldwidnginring) March 12, 2020

Watch as Colorado deputy narrowly escapes mountain lion attack; big cat shot and killed

STORY

                                                                       

♫♫ Breathe ♫♫

Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave but don't leave me
Look around, choose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all your touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be

Run, rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun
And when at last the work is done
Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave

As I was rising from the depths of sleep, breathe was "playing" in my head. Then I thought of the background spoken line on great gig in the sky

And I am not frightened of dying
Any time will do, I don't mind
Why should I be frightened of dying?
There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime

If you can hear this whispering you are dying

Which led me to find this interesting video with all the background voices, explained and the people that spoke them:











Here's the youtube link>>>  HERE << < under the video hit "show more" it gives info on all the background spoken voices.

With over 44" of rain in my neck of the woods since January 1st, this is how kids may soon be traveling to school in north Alabama

The real reason why WalMart is out of toilet paper

Glimpsing The Elusive Mammatus Hangus Has Become a Rare Treat In An Online World.......

h/t to reader Joe B.

They Have Been Messing With The Corona Virus For A While.. Nov 16th 2015 article.

 
It was only a matter of time before 
A: it accidentally got out
B: it was released for nefarious reasons

 This was linked in a comment thread. Sorry, I forget which one. I have been reading too many.
Irish.

Lab-Made Coronavirus Triggers Debate

The creation of a chimeric SARS-like virus has scientists discussing the risks of gain-of-function research.

Jef Akst

Nov 16, 2015

Ralph Baric, an infectious-disease researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, last week (November 9) published a study on his team’s efforts to engineer a virus with the surface protein of the SHC014 coronavirus, found in horseshoe bats in China, and the backbone of one that causes human-like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in mice. The hybrid virus could infect human airway cells and caused disease in mice, according to the team’s results, which were published in Nature Medicine. 

The results demonstrate the ability of the SHC014 surface protein to bind and infect human cells, validating concerns that this virus—or other coronaviruses found in bat species—may be capable of making the leap to people without first evolving in an intermediate host, Nature reported. They also reignite a debate about whether that information justifies the risk of such work, known as gain-of-function research. “If the [new] virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory,” Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, told Nature.


READ THE REST HERE<<

Leigh's Monday = Tranny Issues...

 

The Universe must think I'm GAY!

Because it just endlessly keeps Fuckin' me in the ass!

68 degrees, warm and sunny. I was going to putter around the yard, but I just barely made it into my dooryard.

Half a mile down the road, it started to surge -"WTF is wrong with this thing now?". When I pulled into the drive, the tranny slipped.

"Oh, fuck me!"

It made it the last 100 yards up the hill, and I shut it off. I looked underneath, and ATF was pouring out of the bell-housing.

Yup, it's official - FUCK ME!

I almost made it a week without having to go into full on thrash mode, on some piece of shit I own.

You were right Phil - I am snake bit .....

Bring on the corona virus. If this frigging car hasn't stroked me out yet, than a bug named after Mexican-Miller isn't even going to give me the farts!

Took me 4 1/2 hours to pull it. I don't like the fact that I am getting faster doing this. That and I don't have to label any of the shit I had to take off.

Blew the damn seal out of the trans case. IDK why, because it went in great, when I changed the convertor. It went in straight and I didn't tweak the seal body. You can even see where it was sitting against the case. 

Then for good measure, the friggin' EGR pipe shattered into three pieces. It just went , POP!

Now I have to pull one off of a parts car, if I don't have one lying around loose. 

IT .

JUST .

NEVER .

FRIGGIN .

ENDS.....

Just The Two of Us...

Tuesdeyes....

aaaand.. it's Monday

"As they say in the 2015 paper, they created a “hybrid virus” which is far more deadly"

 The link to the post below by capitalisteric was sent in by reader Mike.



Note: these links about the corona virus are for those that chose to read them and chose to add anything by commenting. I only post them so the information can be shared to our readers. I have no idea what's coming other than I do have a strong feeling that our economy is gonna take a big hit. 

There are a lot of ideas of the Who What When Where Why and How. Which one will be the truth? Will we ever know? Most likely not.

  Is this virus "just another flu"? or is it something out of Stephen King's "The Stand". 

Obviously we have to get through the next few months or so to see what transpires.

So I will add this disclaimer:

The below is for your reading entertainment. I'm not a virologist but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once in my life.

WYSIWYG
FWIW
YMMV
FYI
No Warranty implied or otherwise noted. 
You must be this tall to ride
No unaccompanied minors
Keep your finger off the trigger...................

 

Capitalist Eric

Truth is treason in an empire of lies.

Coronavirus- Blunt Truth

The coronavirus (Covid-19, or whatever else you want to call it) represents a fundamental change in the way our current society operates.  For this essay, I’m ONLY talking about the virus itself.  I’ll follow up in the next day or two on economic impacts of it.

But let’s start off with the virus, establish the history, where it really came from, WHY, and what to do about it…  then we can get on to what happens after.
BACKGROUND:

First of all, contrary to MSM stories saying it was due to people eating Bat-soup, transferred from Sloths or whatever fictional bullshit they think people would be stupid enough to believe, the virus is NOT a naturally-occurring phenomenon.  It was intentionally engineered by China.  I will say that this is not speculation, not a conspiracy-theory, but a fact documented by plenty of public-domain documentation, by the people that did it.

But first, the obvious question:  Why would anyone be so stupid as to build something like this?  The answer is quite simple: In a secret speech given to high-level Communist Party cadres nearly two decades ago, Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Chi Haotian explained a long-range plan for ensuring a Chinese national renaissance using biological weapons.  The idea was to develop and deploy bio-weapons to destroy the USA, so they could literally walk in and colonize it for themselves, leaving the contaminated, destroyed land they now live on.

I strongly suggest you read the entire article for yourself; it’s quite the eye-opener.
AND NOW…

GO READ THE REST and follow the links <<

A&&Hole Drivers. If You Are In Southeastern Nh You Know Route 125.

 Everyday I travel Route 125. It's a divided, very busy, two lane road that runs North from the mASShole border to Route 16 in Wakefield.

Down in Plaistow NH in the border area it's divided with 2 lanes on each side and very busy.

 There are lots of businesses for maSShole tax free shopping and it's a well traveled route for commuters.

Here's a screen shot of google street view in Plaistow for reference:

After you get the north end of Plaistow it turns mostly into undivided highway.

Speed limits go anywhere from 35 to 55 mph with traffic traveling faster than that.

As with many secondary roads around the country this is a common view:

There are some passing zones, turn off lanes and stop lights as you travel North through the various towns.

As I said, I travel this route by car and motorcycle often and have witnessed this kid of stupidity in the video below. People passing over double yellow and in no passing zones. Granted it wasn't to this extent and conclusion. Nine times out of ten the idiot doing the passing and speeding will get stuck a light a couple minutes down the road and I'll roll up a few cars behind them. So all the rushing and possible carnage wasn't worth it.


Where ever this video is from, I can definitely empathize with this guy's comment at the end. And no, I wouldn't stop to help. Fuck em'

Saturday Chimp Out At Birmingham Crossplex During 'Lil Baby Concert

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — One person was shot on Saturday evening after a concert at Birmingham's Crossplex.

According to Birmingham Police Sergeant Mauldin, the victim was transported to the hospital with life threatening injuries.

Are We Just Whistling Past The Graveyard?

  Good morning all,

( I started this on Friday and saved it as a draft.  I thought there was no sense in crapping on a good start to the weekend with some doom and gloom, now that it's almost Monday here goes)
 
Friday night  I wrote:   Here are a couple twitter threads that are worth reading.  The first one is from Carpe Donktum, the best pro Trump meme maker. It's his personal take on Covid-19 

The second one is from Liz Specht. She discusses the possible healthcare failure if/when the system gets over run.  



Added today :   Before I got around to finish this and hit publish,  I did my morning surf and felt I should add AESOP's POST << to this list. Do go read the post and comment thread.  One of the comments also referenced Liz Specht's twitter thread you can read below.

A few others worth adding: 

Please scroll down the sidebar if you like. There a lot's of good bloggers and links to read.

Updated WORLDOMETER LIVE<< 

Phil's post and comments <<

The Burning Platform another from Biologist on a Bike<<


If you like, add a comment about what you are seeing/ hearing in your area.