Gain of function research explained

 https://www.virology.ws/2021/09/09/gain-of-function-explained/

The production of recombinant coronaviruses to assess pandemic potential was carried out in several laboratories, all funded by the NIH. Recently Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress that the NIH did not fund GoF coronavirus research. The press has suggested that he lied, but the truth is that his definition of GoF research is that it only involves passaged of organisms in animals. This interpretation is not correct but being wrong does not mean you are lying.

 I want readers to understand that the goals of GoF research are laudable, and only a small subset has the potential to harm humans. Consequently these experiments are highly regulated and carried out under high levels of biological containment. GoF is not a dirty word.

Designer Babies: Selecting embryos with reduced risk illness

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314880

 Each year, tens of thousands of babies are born in the United States as the result of IVF (in vitro fertilization) – where several eggs are fertilized outside the mother's body and then an embryo is selected for transfer into her womb.

For a number of years now, it has been possible for prospective parents to screen their embryos for rare genetic defects such as cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs disease. However, new technical advances now make it possible for parents to have their embryos screened for genetic risk factors for diseases such as cancers, diabetes, heart disease, or psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

With this new method, genetic testing provides each embryo with a risk score – an estimate of the chances of the given embryo to develop a particular disease.

Texas Governor bars vaccine mandates

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314871

 Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday barred all COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the state by any entity, including private employers, in response to what he called "bullying" by the Biden Administration, Reuters reports.

"In another instance of federal overreach, the Biden Administration is now bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas' continued recovery from the COVID-19 disaster," Abbott said in an executive order.

The order states that "no entity in Texas" could compel proof of vaccination by any individual, including employees or customers. Abbott also called on state lawmakers to take up the issue in an upcoming special session.

Israeli government passivity is killing Alta Fixsler

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314713

 All of those following the plight of Baby Alta Fixsler in Manchester probably know by now that her legal and political avenues in England have been exhausted. Family Advisor Pinny Kellner, who has been coordinating the international efforts to save her life for about half of a year, reports that the ball is now squarely in the court of the Israeli government. Alta and her parents are Israeli citizens, and Jewish, thus thrusting the responsibility on the Israeli government as the party most directly capable of saving her life, Pinny explains.

 Yet, while the clock is ticking, the Israeli government, and specifically FM Yair Lapid, knows exactly what specific diplomatic means they need to employ to save Alta's life from her British executioners, Pinny emphasizes, and nevertheless the Israeli government is dragging their feet.

Massive EU study shows vaccines prevent severe COVID illness, even from Delta variant

 https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/syk7kszrt

French survey among 22 million people over the age of 50 found those who had received jabs were 90% less likely to be hospitalized or die, confirming observations from Israel and its vast inoculation campaign

This is how the coalition is trying to find budgets for Ra'am

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314809

 The chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, MK Bezalel Smotrich, attacked the move and tweeted, "Simply put, it is called making up fictitious criteria to transfer money to the authorities that Abbas values the most. It is illegal, and if the legal advisers allow it in order to preserve the survival of this coalition it will be their downfall. A complete hypocrisy."

 He added, "I do not know if you understand the significance of this astronomical sum: 24 billion shekels that are supposed to find their way in tailor-made criteria for the Arab authorities, and from there directly to bodies affiliated with the Islamic movement, like its private militia in Kafr Qassem. This is corruption on steroids and a great danger to the State of Israel."

BBC describes Alfred Dreyfus as 'notorious Jewish spy'

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/bbc-describes-alfred-dreyfus-as-notorious-jewish-spy-681601

 "For the BBC to produce a series featuring Alfred Dreyfus, who was baselessly accused of treason, and then describe him as a 'notorious Jewish spy' is an insult to his memory and to the Jewish community in general," Emanuel Miller, a media analyst at the media watchdog organization HonestReporting, told The Jerusalem Post. "The Dreyfus case represented a key moment in Zionism's history and in the eyes of many is a byword for the miscarriages of justice suffered by Jews throughout the ages. How many times must a Jew's name be smeared?"

 "While the website text was quietly changed, the BBC evidently feels it doesn't owe Jews an apology, much less take serious steps to familiarize its staff with the basics of antisemitism in order to prevent such easily avoidable mishaps," Miller said to the Post. "Unfortunately, judging by past experience, the BBC is unlikely to apologize for the insulting mischaracterization."

Conspiracy theories

 https://www.newscientist.com/definition/conspiracy-theories/

 Conspiracy theories can also paradoxically be emotionally reassuring. They provide truthful-sounding explanations for events that otherwise seem inexplicable, random or capricious, and often make your political opponents look bad. They can also give believers a pleasing sense of superiority because they – and sometimes they alone – have seen through the lies and cover-ups to reveal the “truth”.

Column: A Nobel laureate backs off from claiming a ‘smoking gun’ for the COVID-19 lab-leak theory

 https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-08/nobel-laureate-baltimore-smoking-gun-for-the-covid-lab-leak-theory

 Experienced virologists heavily favor the natural-spillover theory. That’s because the phenomenon has been common throughout history, accounting for the spread of most viruses and indeed for most pandemics. The direct animal source hasn’t been identified; it’s not unusual for investigations of that nature to take years. SARS2 has been known to scientists for only about 18 months.

 “We cannot prove that SARS-CoV-2 has a natural origin and we cannot prove that its emergence was not the result of a lab leak,” Kristian Andersen of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, lead author of a seminal paper on the origin of the virus, told me by email.

“However, while both scenarios are possible, they are not equally likely,” Andersen wrote. “Precedence, data and other evidence strongly favor natural emergence as a highly likely scientific theory for the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, while the lab leak remains a speculative incomplete hypothesis with no credible evidence.”

 Other virologists challenge the assumption by Wade and the assertion by Baltimore that there’s anything unique or especially unusual about the furin cleavage site on SARS2. Such sites have been found in similar viruses, and natural mechanisms for their appearance have been identified.

It’s Not Misinformation. It’s Amplified Propaganda.

 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/disinformation-propaganda-amplification-ampliganda/620334/

 Today there is simply a rhetorical war of all against all: a maelstrom of viral hashtags competing for attention, hopping from community to community, amplified by crowds of true believers for whom sharing and retweeting is akin to a religious calling—even if the narrative they’re propagating is a ludicrous conspiracy theory about stolen ballots or Wayfair-trafficked children. Ampliganda engenders a constellation of mutually reinforcing arguments targeted at, and internalized by, niche communities, rather than a single, monolithic narrative fed to the full citizenry. It has facilitated a fragmentation of reality with profound implications. Each individual act of clicking or resharing may not feel like a propagandistic act, but in the aggregate, those acts shape conversations, beliefs, realities.

Why it's so tricky to trace the origin of COVID-19

 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/why-its-so-tricky-to-trace-the-origin-of-covid-19

 A 90-day investigation into the source of SARS-CoV-2 has shown consensus that the virus was not engineered. But many other elements remain a mystery.

COVID-19: US intelligence rules out biological weapon origin

 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-us-intelligence-rules-out-biological-weapon-origin

• SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was not developed as a biological weapon, a report by the United States Intelligence Community concludes.
• An unclassified summary of the report reveals that most of the intelligence agencies also believe the virus was not genetically engineered.
• However, one agency believes it is likely that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a laboratory that handled coronaviruses.
• But, according to four elements of the Intelligence Community and the National Intelligence Council, natural exposure to an animal with the virus was the most likely cause of the outbreak.
• President Joe Biden accuses China of withholding crucial information that could help reveal the pandemic’s origins and prevent future pandemics.

COVID vaccine letters target GPs and pharmacists demanding they 'cease and desist' or face 'punishment'

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-10/gps-pharmacists-in-firing-line-of-anti-vaxxers/100497554

GPs and pharmacists say they are facing a rise in harassment from anti-vaxxers including fake legal letters threatening to strip them of their indemnity unless they stop administering COVID vaccines to the public. 

Debunking the anti-vaccination myths

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325371

 Health organizations, doctors, and scientists agree that vaccines are safe and effective. Despite this, there is a growing movement of parents and caregivers choosing not to vaccinate their children. Anti-vaccination myths are almost certainly contributing to this trend.