BERLIN — The head of the World Health Organization says it’s important to step up genomic sequencing worldwide to ensure that new variants of the coronavirus are detected as the pandemic enters its second year.
Thankfully, we will be rejoining this organization in about three weeks.
Scientists speak and idiots attack.
Thanks to ALL of the people who have been fighting this without bullshit right from the start - from the researchers to the janitors in the ICUs - thank you.
The World Hoax Organization?
I don’t think so…
Donald J. Trump
“I mean, c’mon – these people won’t even admit that Big Macs are a nutrient-dense superfood!”
Essential nutrients for the development of shameless, morally bankrupt wannabe billionaires.
Maturation isn’t a significant life cycle outcome in this species.
It’s going to be good to see science matter again when it comes to government policy in the executive branch, but we’ll still be stuck with the Republicans in Congress who would rather pretend that a snowstorm in winter proves the Earth isn’t warming substantially, or that humans don’t spread a hoax virus that’s killing people in huge numbers. We really need to get rid of them and their anti-science nonsense, until that happens we’re wide open to all kinds of disasters that science can mitigate or solve but is blocked from doing so.
Good example of science being blocked is The Dickey Ammendment which doesn’t specifically prohibit researchers from studying gun violence. It simply restricts publishing results unfavorable to gun manufacturers and the NRA.
Therefore no scientist who lives by “publish or perish” would attempt such research.
Although I haven’t followed this issue, Wikipedia currently says “Congress clarified the law in 2018 to allow for such research, and the FY2020 federal omnibus spending bill earmarked the first funding for it since 1996.” Also, in the same place a bit later it clarifies, based on changes in 2018, that the CDC can fund research on gun violence. The CDC just can’t “use government appropriated funds to specifically advocate for gun control.”
A prohibition of publishing research findings (not using gov’t funds) would certainly be a 1st Am violation.
In this clip, Dr. Peter Hotez points up that the US is doing far less genomic analysis than other countries so there are almost surely new COVID strains here like the new ones discovered elsewhere but we aren’t finding them because we’re not looking enough. I think this is one of the problems the WHO director is getting at.
(Jump to 4:15 for his comments on that topic, but the clip covers several topics and is worth watching the whole thing):
