Is this supposed to be news?...

[Truckman]

I thought this was fact from the first day......Ben

[Mike]

I've always thought so, too. But, connecting the dots seems to have been a problem from the start. Notice in the report you posted they say "the low confidence assessment" when describing the report from the Dept. of Energy. While I still believe it was man-made and came from China, I have to question what the hell the Dept. of Energy has to do with investigating it. Really? How does a virus come within the purview of the Dept. of Energy? Shouldn't they be investigating things like why millions of Americans still lose power during winter storms with all of the modern technology now available? Or, why is America's various electricity grid not capable of sustaining the demand for power? Or, why can't the grid handle all of the new solar and wind generation output? Viruses are not energy. At least not yet.

[UTAH]

Course, the irony is China has been hit with Covid as well. If it is a proveable point that China was involved, perhaps families who lost loved ones to Coved can seek damages in courts of law.

Hunter

[wacojoe]

Even some of our federal agencies have cracked the code of silence surrounding the invention of SARS-Cov-2 by the Chi-Coms with Fauci financing help. Incidentally Mike, the Department of Energy is home to the country’s premier biological warfare laboratory probably as a follow up to it being designated as the home to a department dedicated to research of the other potential existential threat, nuclear warfare.

They could have saved some time in their research by reviewing our old thread here. Better late than never.
http://www.crackerbarrelphilosophers...ighlight=Wuhan

[Truckman]

Good to see you again, Joe...Your viewpoint was missed......Ben

[Mike]

Good to see you, Joe!

........Incidentally Mike, the Department of Energy is home to the country’s premier biological warfare laboratory probably as a follow up to it being designated as the home to a department dedicated to research of the other potential existential threat, nuclear warfare..........

Thanks, Joe! That's interesting, and, at first glance, it's another example of a government agency conducting business outside of its intended scope.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy (DOE) Organization Act. The DOE was created to govern policies regarding the nation’s nuclear weapons program, naval reactor production, energy-related supervision, and domestic energy production.

A brief glance at the department's website revealed nothing about their involvement in biological warfare research, although I can see how they might be involved due to some of their other programs. They probably want to keep the bio-warfare part quiet.

[UTAH]

The more we learn about our government's actual projects the more I question where we're heading. However, I like to think we're involved in what looks like shady or dangerous endeavors because our enemies are doing the same. Hence, the more we know about dangerous weapons and actions, the better we'll be able to deal with them.

Hunter

[Mike]

Journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

So saying that Fauci financed the pandemic is bull****.

That all depends on which group you choose to believe. Quite frankly, I don't believe any of them and will always believe the truth, whatever that might be, is being hidden from us.

My belief is that it came from a biological weapons research group in China. Whether or not it received funding from the U.S. does not matter to me because I am fairly certain that we would not knowingly fund biological weapons research for our sworn enemy.

[Kevin]

I deleted that post, Mike. I guess I'm not up for the whack a mole of whack job conspiracy theories being peddled by wacojoe.

The link in your post, for anyone interested, is that the terminology "gain of function" is interpreted lots of ways and since we cannot agree on language, it serves no purpose. It is a factual statement about language, so there are no sides as such to take. Rand Paul says any research that results in a deadlier virus is gain of function research. NIH says that the term as used by virologists is about intentional research, not inadvertent results. The term has become politically loaded and the two sides are talking past each other. I side with NIH. Penicillin resulted from a serendipitous accident. No one was expecting the result achieved. Was that gain of function research? Not to me. Things found by accident are just that. Accidental discoveries. But Rand Paul says intentionality matters not. So he whips up the wing nuts, raises money, gets re-elected. And the paranoid have a new god.

The only independent research I can find is that can come close to what wacojoe is suggesting is NIH failure to provide oversight on a grant to EcoHealth Alliance, which did research with WIV that had an unexpected result of a more infection virus.

https://www.science.org/content/arti...research-china

[Honda]

I deleted that post, Mike. I guess I'm not up for the whack a mole of whack job conspiracy theories being peddled by wacojoe.

I wouldn't be so quick to discredit Joe. Much of what he has said involving COVID has come to fruition even though he was constantly berated. By the way welcome back Joe. We certainly need some of your perspectives around here.

[Kevin]

Joe has unparalleled legal knowledge, in my view, so when he talks about legalities, I shut the hell up and listen to the man. Yeah, he's good enough to pierce even my own self-righteousness and that is no mean feat!! LOL!!!

But along the way, he's dabbled in a lot of conspiracy theories, so outside the legal arena, I am skeptical. I did some research and posted it above. As far as I can tell, "Fauci financing help" is code for that nebulous gain of function charge by the far right against Fauci and so far, I haven't seen anything that leads me to conclude this is anything more than the continuing smear job against a civil servant. As a former federal public servant myself, I tired of being used as a punching bag for someone to score political points. So perhaps I'm being overly sensitive and am less inclined to view such a charge dispassionately. I'll have to consider that in future replies.

So once again, Honda, you made me do some reflection. Thank you!!

[Honda]

Thank you for the response. You and I while we disagree on many subjects can usually find some common ground because I have tolerance for the views of others unlike many. As far as Dr fauci goes I think he's done a pretty efficient job of discrediting himself.

[Kevin]

I'll agree with Fauci discrediting himself. Sad to watch. He had a fine reputation but he flushed it in this last go around. I hope the next person learns from his missteps.

[Mike]

Kevin, until tonight, I have never heard the term "gain of function". That kind of knowledge is above my pay grade.

All I know is a bad virus came from somewhere, and it appears to me that it came from Wuhan, China. Was it created by nature in a "wet market"? Maybe, but my bet is on a research laboratory from which it escaped, or was intentionally released. Do I have proof? No, I don't. It is just my personal belief based on what I have seen and read, and is not worth the cost of the electronic ink on your screen. As for Fauci, someone has to take the fall and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Peace, my friend!

[Kevin]

I agree.