Weekend Unthreaded

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123 comments to Weekend Unthreaded

  • #

    Hey Amigos

    Someone actually made a youtube video of my article:

    https://youtu.be/xWObSNGiGmw

    I didn’t get to track the million likes that youtube removed 😉

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  • #
    Lance

    Interesting article

    Ivermectin is effective for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 35 studies

    “Ivermectin is an effective treatment for COVID-19. The probability that an ineffective treatment generated results as positive as the 35 studies to date is estimated to be 1 in 34 billion (p = 0.000000000029). As expected for an effective treatment, early treatment is more successful, with an estimated reduction of 84% in the effect measured using a random effects meta-analysis, RR 0.16 [0.08-0.33]. ”

    https://ivmmeta.com/

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    • #
      Lance

      And now, however convenient it may be, the American Journal of Medicine recommends HCQ.

      https://principia-scientific.com/the-american-journal-of-medicine-now-recommends-hcq-for-covid19/

      “The American Journal of Medicine now (Jan. 2021) now recommends Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Zinc for the treatment of Covid 19 outpatients.

      The irony is this is the treatment that former US President, Donald Trump promoted last year. The timing, right after the election, is interesting.”

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      • #
        Harves

        Orange Man = Bad
        Therefore HCQ = Bad

        Oh, wait ….. you mean those people didn’t have to die?

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      • #
        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        Thanks Lance,
        Great news.
        I wonder when our MSM will publish a report on this? Or will they follow their precedent established with the Lancet backdown, and ignore it.
        I’ve just sent the link to my pollies. May I suggest you all do the same? Please? At least one of them might read it and actually do something.
        Cheers
        Dave B

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        • #
          Lance

          Most welcome, Mr. David. 🙂

          I’m very thankful to Jo for allowing information to be posted herein.

          Many people ( Tony, David M. , yourself, and others ) post very useful analyses, ideas, resources, that I enjoy and benefit from, so I try to share as well, hoping that between us all, we may find practical knowledge.

          We’re all monkeys in the tree. One hand up and one hand down. 🙂

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          • #

            Interesting find, thank you Lance.

            To be very specific, the American Journal of Medicine does not recommend anything. They published a paper, which is good, but that is all. I note one of the authors is Harvey Risch from Yale, who wrote up an extended review of HCQ 6 months ago. So this is not necessarily a big shift in policy of anyone. It just means those docs who were already supportive of HCQ etc have managed to get a paper published.

            I wish Principia etc would be more careful with their statements.

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      • #
        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        G’day Lance,
        Thanks for that link which I’ve passed on to my pollies. May I suggest you all do the same as then
        perhaps one or two will actually read it and recognise its value.
        I’d like to think the ever-alert MSM would rapidly report on this, even as a front page story, but I suspect they’ll follow the Lancet precedent and ignore/suppress/vilify it instead.
        Cheers
        Dave B

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        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          Oops, when I started to key my second, my first wasn’t in sight. But I’m not too sorry, as Lance’s find was worth a double dose of thanks.
          Cheers
          D

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      • #
        Tides of Mudgee

        Thanks Lance. When are the class actions going to start? Trump was pushing it early 2020, and organised huge imports of it (where did it go?), but we all know Orange Man Bad. ToM

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        • #
          Serp

          We’re not allowed to know where Clive Palmer’s shipments of hydroxychloroquine that were reportedly donated to the National Medical Stockpile have been stored since the security measures mentioned in https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/national-medical-stockpile prohibit disclosure.

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            Maybe into a private vault somewhere in case its needed….

            In realty, it appears most of the damage, from anecdotal evidence thus far, is via the vacc ine itself.

            A choice of HCQ or experimental gene therapy…hard call…not.

            I cant verify this video, but if true…wow…

            https://healthimpactnews.com/2021/cna-nursing-home-whistleblower-seniors-are-dying-like-flies-after-covid-injections-speak-out/

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            • #
              Hanrahan

              I am in the vulnerable age group but not the vulnerable health group and would run and hide if they came around with the vax.

              Sadly my wife’s health may leave me no option, but hopefully I can care for her at home until this blows over. I cannot even enter a nursing home office to discuss the future without a flu shot which I resent.

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              • #
                Sirob

                Hanrahan, if we live in a free representative democracy we must change this situation where we’ve allowed our government to treat us like slaves/property. It – government – claims to have the right to impose medical procedures on us without our consent under threat of removing our right to move, interact, and participate in normal life. Corporations are doing the same. It’s untenable if we claim to have liberty.

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              • #
                OriginalSteve

                I would suggest home may be the best option.

                The developing evidence seems to suggest normal healthy well meaning and sincere people effectively being manipulated into experimental DNA manipulation by way of slick propaganda frightening them. This medical appliance appears to have no form of legal recourse should it injure them…..

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            • #
              Kalm Keith

              Thanks to James for having the courage to say what’s happening.

              KK

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        The timing, right after the election, is interesting CRIMINAL.”

        Many health officials should be tried at The Hague for crimes against humanity.

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      • #
        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        G’day again Lance,
        I’m a fan of Dr Zelenko and his work and think it really should have been emphasised in this article, but it is at least mentioned:
        ” This dose of zinc sulfate has been effectively used in combination with antimalarials in early treatment of high-risk outpatients with COVID-19. ” , and a reference at #20, which is an ongoing link to Dr Z’s letter of April 28, 2020, which was accessed by these authors July 3, 2020.
        Nine wasted months. Nine months of active suppression of its efficacy. Nine months of unnecessary deaths. And counting.
        Cheers
        Dave B

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    • #
      WXcycles

      … is estimated to be 1 in 34 billion (p = 0.000000000029).

      No one can be saved by this finding until MSNBC and CNN say it’s OK and that depends more on meetings with Executive Producers, script-writing requirements and projected ad sales revenue. And whether the old poop in the White House gives the OK to tell the truth in this particular instance. As you can see the chances of that all coming together in a happy confluence of benevolent intents remains quite remote.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      I’d be holding off on the trips to China for a while.

      Here is a demonstration of the new COVID-19 testing methods in Chinese airports.

      Have you printed your boarding pass yet?

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        China Starts Doing Anal Swabs to Test for COVID-19

        Chinese health experts in Beijing have started using anal swabs to test their citizens for COVID-19. These experts believe the coronavirus survives longer in excrement and the anus than in the mouth and nasal passages. An instructional video explaining how to perform an anal swab test for COVID-19 has been shared on Chinese social media. The entire process can be completed in 10 seconds. A cotton swab about 3-5 centimeters (1.1-1.9 inches) long is slipped into the rectum and twisted around four to five times. After an asymptomatic 9-year-old boy was tested positive for COVID-19 through an anal swab test last week, Beijing officials added anal swabs to their list of acceptable COVID-19 tests,

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  • #
    Kevin a

    Remember When Joe Biden Said “You Can’t Legislate By Executive Orders Unless You’re A Dictator”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ido0mSoZ0WE&feature=emb_logo

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    • #
      Lance

      “There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”

      Ayn Rand, 1957.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        That’s how the warmists work: Keep citizens morally sinning against Gaia. Nothing is too small, leaving the tap on while cleaning teeth or being slack fixing a washer – Guilty, your Honour.

        If enough peons sin, they won’t question their Masters’ use of private aircraft, or massive homes burning enough power to keep the lights on in my block.

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    • #
      Tilba Tilba

      I also think Executive Orders aren’t the best way (or even the right way) to run a government, unless the delegated authority for presidential action is written into legislation (which often happens, including here in Australia, where ministerial judgement | discretion are written in).

      And other than for reasons of speed, I don’t quite understand why President Biden need use EOs so much, given he has majorities in both houses of Congress. If he is being frustrated or obstructed by Mitch McConnell, then they need to remove the filibuster (which I concede has some risks).

      The Australian Senate performs well enough with the simple (50%) majority vote rule … I don’t understand why the US senate believes it should be 60% (and for some things 66%).

      It used to claim to be “the greatest deliberative body in the world”, but it has been an obstructionist mess for a very long time.

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  • #
    David Wojick

    European electricity prices spike as renewables fail to deliver

    “Record cold temperatures have hit parts of Europe and Asia causing electricity prices to spike as the normal generating supplies of electricity could not keep prices in check. Spain registered its coldest temperature on record, at -35.6 degrees Celsius, and several areas of the country, including Madrid, are under 18 inches or more of snow and may get record-breaking snowfalls. The electricity price in Spain soared to nearly €95 ($116) per megawatt hour—up 123 percent from prices the previous week and nearly three times higher than the 2020 average. Frigid temperatures…..”

    Extreme cold and hot weather often include low renewables generation. A bad match.

    https://www.realclearenergy.org/2021/01/29/cold_lower_renewable_output_spike_prices_658109.html?utm_source=rcp-today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mailchimp-newsletter&mc_cid=46897d372f&mc_eid=8cc8d602a6

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      Yes David but you forget it’s green power so it’s always better for you and those people only think they’re cold because it’s really hot because of globull warming .

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    • #
      el gordo

      Its a global cooling signal.

      ‘The last time a similar temperature was experienced in Spain was back in February of 1956, when -32°C was recorded in Estany-Gento, in the Catalan province of Lleida.’ (The Local)

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      • #
        Chad

        “Its a Global cooling signal” ….maybe .!
        But as will all extreme temperature “records” it may just be a freak result !
        Remember ..
        1).. this is an unofficial weather station.
        2) its not particularly alarming since it is 2300mtrs up a mountain…which often drops below -30C
        3) urs only 2 C below the previous lowest at this “unofficial” station, recorded 64 yrs ago..
        ……what chance the recording equipment or proceedure has changed in that time ?

        A good explanation of the freak event here..
        https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/34-1-c-catalan-pyrenees-hit-lowest-temperature-ever-registered-in-iberian-peninsula

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        • #
          el gordo

          Yep, its only weather.

          ‘The temperature dropped by around 20 degrees in around four hours, a phenomenon which is called cold air pool.’

          To support my ludicrous assumption that its a global signal, I’ll need to do some digging.

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        • #
          el gordo

          ‘The 1956 European cold wave – February 1956 was the coldest month of the twentieth century over large areas of Western Europe, with mean temperatures below 0 °C (32 °F) as far south as Marseilles being utterly unprecedented in records dating back into the eighteenth century.’ wiki

          There is this quasi 50-60 year quasi cycle and we can turn the clock back to the Gleissberg around 1900.

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          • #
            Serp

            Your reference brings to mind that funnily enough I have discovered that using the -wiki switch on my internet searches culls eighty percent of the rubbish.

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    • #
      WXcycles

      Sorry Dave, Joe said there’s a Climate Crisis and only renewed participation in Paris Agreement will make the cold go away. It makes sense from a precautionary principle perspective, and thank God there’s real global leadership from this new US President, he actually knows exactly what to do to make the climate catastrophe to remain imaginary. As long as it remains imaginary we’ll be OK. There are reasons for measured optimism but maintaining a figment of the imagination for so many years doesn’t come cheap. It’ll require perpetual and unimaginable amounts of sacrifice, deprivation, taxation, windmills and every form of human misery. But the global climate crisis can and will remain completely imaginary if we don’t flinch from this heavy responsibility to see it all the way through to the other side.

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  • #
    Lance

    Something for the sparky types to play with. Kind of bare bones, but nonetheless a tool to estimate interconnection costs.

    California ISO ( Independent System Operator ) Excel spreadsheets for interconnection cost estimation. Per Unit Costs.

    2020: http://www.caiso.com/Documents/SCE2020DraftPerUnitCostGuide.xlsx

    2017: http://www.caiso.com/Documents/SCE2017PerUnitCostGuide.xls

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  • #
    Lance

    Transmission line cost elements per WECC. The 2012 costs can be estimated forward at (2012 cost) x (1.025)^N for N yrs as approximate costs in present day and future day estimates. Assumes a 2.5% cost increase annually.

    2012 WECC Transmission Cost Report

    https://www.wecc.org/Reliability/1210_BV_WECC_TransCostReport_Final.pdf

    The purpose of this is to give a rational cost basis to the various interconnector and extension transmission line costs for proposed projects ( wind, solar, new plant, etc ). These costs tend to be overlooked or hidden so that ratepayers/taxpayers don’t realize that several hundred million dollars might be needed to simply connect the generation. That’s how citizens get taken to the cleaners by dishonest people.

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    • #
      Murray Shaw

      Yes Lance, the reverse engineering of the grid to accommodate the dispersed generation facilities is not mentioned or accounted for in the hyperbole of supposed benefits of “renewables”.

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  • #
    RossP

    This is a cut and paste of a post on a Kiwi blog. No link was given for where the info came from, but it looks believable.

    “Unbelievable,
    The Chinese biological laboratory in Wuhan is owned by Glaxo who by chance owns Pfizer (vaccine producers) which by chance is managed by black rock finances who by chance managed the finances of the open foundation company (Soros foundation).
    Coincidentally SOROS owns the the German company Winterthur who by chance built the Chinese laboratory in Wuhan, accidentally bought by the German company Allianz ,which incidentally has Vanguard as a shareholder who is a shareholder of BlackRock that controls the central banks and manages ONE THIRD of the global investment capital, which incidentally is a major shareholder in Microsoft the property of Bill Gates who happens to be a major shareholder in Pfizer which sells the miracle vaccine “

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  • #
    Neville

    Interesting article from Rita Panahi and how Aussies plus most other educated countries don’t believe everything the left wing alarmists tell us about their latest, extreme delusional nonsense.

    Here’s the link and Rita’s quote about the Flannery donkey from 16 years ago.

    https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/from-the-greatest-moral-challenge-of-our-time-to-an-afterthought/news-story/c8ac1702fdf7c0bfec5ff270de1cae7e

    Rita’s quote …..”The reason why climate change rates so lowly in Australia may have something to do with the pious fervour of our local alarmists whose frequent doomsday predictions fizzle out into non-events.

    Who can forget Tim Flannery’s contribution to the warming debate? The mammal expert was not only made Australian of the Year but also headed the Climate Commission and regularly scared the bejesus out of the Australian public with talk of never-ending droughts and Australian cities running out of drinking water.

    In 2005, Flannery said he feared that within two years, Sydney’s Warragamba Dam, which supplies water to more than 3.7 million people, would run dry.

    The dam level currently sits at 92.9 per cent.

    In 2007, he warned that “even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and our river systems”.

    Victorians squandered billions on an energy-scoffing desalination plant, in preference to a new dam or dams because of the blind faith shown in the predictions of climate alarmists who said that the drought would not break and normal rainfall was a distant memory”.

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  • #
    Neville

    Just to set the record straight here’s the BOM rainfall record for OZ since 1900. This graph is an anomaly and the zero line becomes average rainfall and I’ve set the moving average line to 15 years so we can compare since 1900.

    Note rainfall changed after 1970 for OZ and for the first 70 years the line doesn’t touch the average and of course the bad FED drought started in 1896 so we can add in another 4 years for that start date. And yet their ABC and other lefty extremists STILL hang on the Flannery donkey’s BS and nonsense at every opportunity.

    http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/change/timeseries.cgi?graph=rranom&area=aus&season=0112&ave_yr=15

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      There’s an animated version that shows each year for just over a hundred years spliced together and the only thing that’s apparent is variability.

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      • #
        el gordo

        Natural variability rules and going back even further, focussing on South East Australia.

        ‘Prolonged dry conditions were identified in various parts of the region during 1837–1843 and 1845–1852, while wet conditions were noted from 1836 to 1838, primarily in southern SEA. Anomalously cold periods were also identified in 1835–1836 and 1848–1849, in general agreement with temperature reconstructions from other regions of the Southern Hemisphere.’ (Ashcroft et al 2014)

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  • #

    This is a reminder that the current heated spat between the UK and the EU, who despite ordering three months later than others want to jump the queue, will affect Australia, as the intended ban on vaccines by the EU includes those intended for the US, Japan and Australia.

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    • #

      This is an extremely comprehensive analysis of the uk stats for the 2020 pandemic and the deaths arising from it , derived from the office of national statistics. Worth reading but have a cup of coffee ready as its a long read

      https://architectsforsocialhousing.co.uk/2021/01/27/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics-manufacturing-the-crisis/

      2020 is the 12th lowest year for excess deaths’ since 2020. Every year from 2008 to 1942 had higher excess death figures when adjusted for age and population griwth. The likely deaths arising from the witholding of treatments for other ailments is aso examined.

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      • #

        Sorry should read;

        “2020 is the 12th lowest year for excess deaths since 1942. “

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        • #

          Euromomo shows that Excess deaths in England were far worse in 2020 than any year in the range 2015 – 2020. Maybe comparing current excess deaths to lives lost in WWII years is missing a key factor like the improvement in medicine?

          https://www.euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps/

          Also true of Austria, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

          Current weekly excess deaths z score of UK and Portugal in the “extraordinary high excess” range of > 15.

          Remembering also that in past years the bumps in excess deaths didn’t need mass lockdowns to stop them rising even higher. The 2020 Excess deaths would have been far larger without that.

          Though the UK could have stopped all excess deaths and most lockdowns like AU and NZ did if Boris stopped the planes back in February as I suggested.

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          • #

            Am I wrong? Does the Architechs article assume that the UK testing for Covid is adequate and then assume that all other deaths not attributed to Covid are actually non-Covid deaths?

            Since the UK test positivity was as high as 10% and even a ridiculous 28% in London, the UK is not doing enough testing, it’s missing many cases, and many deaths at home may be Covid deaths.

            We’ll never know how many people died of Covid in the UK, nor how many died of lockdown related effects. Though five or ten years from now, we might be able to make an estimate by looking at whether there is a bounce in excess deaths after Covid eventually gets under control. But it may take ten years of data.

            Let’s just hope the virus mutates to be nicer, or one of the vaccines actually works well, or docs start using antivirals like they should have been since March.

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            • #
              tonyb

              Jo

              I meant to say I agree about stopping the planes. Apparently there were still 150,000 people arriving every week into the UK a month after our First lockdown so that was in April. Some were transiting, but an awful lot were using public transport to get home, going to the shops etc etc. Crazy but I wonder if it was a reaction because Trump had stopped the planes, therefore they didn’t want to follow suit.

              Stopping travel now and quarantine as announced this week, seems far too late and probably counter productive other than that it will stop the ‘influencers’ lounging around pools in Dubai.

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          • #
            tonyb

            “Euromomo shows that Excess deaths in England were far worse in 2020 than any year in the range 2015 – 2020. Maybe comparing current excess deaths to lives lost in WWII years is missing a key factor like the improvement in medicine?”

            We are not talking about 2015. We are talking about the period 1942 to 2008 which is hardly Ancient History unless you are Greta Thunberg!

            The world didn’t end and we didn’t up take apart society and the world order, blow the economy apart, destroy jobs and educational opportunities, destroy mental health, and trash our freedoms.

            Would deaths have been worse in 2020? That assumes nothing would have been done. I note from my diary that the public were already taking precautionary measures 5 weeks before the first lockdown and Whitty admitted that cases had started dropping before we were locked up.

            Of course sensible measures were needed. Arguably the panic caused higher deaths than needed as the elderly were moved from hospitals into care homes causing fully one third of all deaths due to the spread of infections, the hospitals became vectors of infection themselves killing patients already there for other reasons and frightening others with serious illnesses so much they didn’t attend in the first place.

            Add in the nonsensical advice to stay indoors when the best place is safely outdoors observing sensible social distancing guidelines, so the virus spread amongst occupants staying inside as has now been acknowledged.

            On a lighter note comparing the figures only to 2015 onwards is a bit like the hot topic of today from the Met office that this has been the snowiest period in the UK since….roll of drums….January 2019!

            On a more serious note perhaps you can confirm that if you are inside there needs to be good ventilation, Temperature ideally needs to be at least 20C and RH around 50 to 70% these all being conditions that are most hostile to the virus.

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          • #
            yarpos

            toggling between england and UK, he say UK you say england

            england has had excess deaths , not so much wales , scotland an northern ireland

            and never mind the others that dont fit the argument

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  • #
    Sirob

    Here’s a very informative interview with Robert F Kennedy Jr and Dr David Martin.

    It’s primarily concerned with how Fauci has been using federal grant money, DARPA included, to farm out to various universities and drug companies. The resulting patent ownerships include him personally as well as other private companies and individuals. There are plenty of illegal conflicts of interest.

    Dr David Martin has digitised patents in 168 countries for banks to help banks value the patents and allow them as collateral for business funding. That’s how he is able to find who owns which patents. His allegations are that Moderná and Fauci have illegally registered many of their patents.

    https://newtube.app/StandUpDefend/vyxqq6I

    I doubt the DOJ will be investigating or indicting.

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    Lance

    America seems, now, to be living in a 2 tiered legal system run by a ruling class oligarchy.

    “If you are not a member of the ruling oligarchy, you can buy a stock only when it benefits the ruling oligarchy, but not when the oligarch shorted the stock and will lose money. In that case, you can only sell. They, the esteemed members of the system, on the other hand, can do what they want at any point to win the rigged game. ”

    https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/horowitz-the-robinhood-gamestop-scandal-lockdowns-and-a-two-tiered-justice-system

    Such a system cannot last. It won’t end well for anyone.

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    Neville

    Willis Eschenbach checks out the mission impossible of Biden’s so called renewables disaster.
    Every 20 years these dilute, dirty TOXIC S&W disasters have to be scrapped and renewed at an horrendous cost to the taxpayer and their environment.
    And of course no change to temp at all and China and developing countries are laughing all the way to their banks.
    OH and the Biden donkey thinks that Aussies should follow him down this TOXIC environmentally disastrous path.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/01/27/bright-green-impossibilities/

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      WXcycles

      How many Doomsday predictions have been made in the past 100 years?

      And apparently not even one of them has proven close to accurate.

      No shortage of new doom scenarios for Politicians to shove at us though.

      “We must do this … because … well … you know … stuff!”

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      el gordo

      The PM will hold the line against irrational belief systems.

      ‘Scott Morrison has said he will not increase what is widely seen as an unambitious 2030 emissions target (a 26-28% cut below 2005 levels) this year. The government has pulled out of the global climate fund, and continues to resist a mid-century net zero emissions target despite it being backed by more than 120 countries collectively responsible for about three-quarters of global GDP.’ (Guardian)

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    Geoff from Tanjil

    I am a fan of Jo’s site and WUWT. They are the first things I read every day.
    Sometimes it can be a little disheartening to read what is happening but I continue to spread my PMA to family and friends.
    I cheer myself up by opening xkcd.com
    I am not pushing any agenda here but it has a way of viewing the world that makes me laugh.
    Another site which is attached is smbc.
    Todays comic is very relevant to discussions on Jo’s site and WUWT and relates to science vs academia and while not a new thought to us, can lighten your weekend.
    http://www.smbc-comics.com/

    Finally, thankyou to all the commenters on this site. You all make it the most interesting blog on the net imho.

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    John Dawson

    Geoff – thanks for the link – it’s too long but close to the bone! Bookmarked.

    I particularly liked the frame with a scatter graph showing everything off the y=ax straight line as “outliers” – that made me laugh out loud.

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    Sirob

    Interesting choice of counter narrative positions everyone’s afraid to be conflated with – creationists, vaccine deniers and climate sceptics”

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    Sirob

    Looks like the dreaded auto moderation has got me again. That post above got moderated immediately.

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    Richard Jenkins

    There was a list publishd yesterday ranking the countries for covid control. It did not itemize the criteria.
    My belief is we must fight Covid as ellimination is not possible.
    Hence my viable criteria is the % of people of the population that have totally recovered. How many people have antibodies?
    Vaccines might work but I am not convinced.
    History shows nature overcame plagues.
    With those criteria I suspect that time will show yesterday’s table could be largely inverted.
    Next year the low incidence places will have the most population still at risk.
    I said largely because Taiwan, for example, will be safe. Taiwan did not have lockdowns.
    WHO acknowledges Taiwan does not exist. Ttheir CCP Masters insist ROC does not exist.
    Biden family has investments in CCP but the MSM claim this is Russian disinformation even if the FBI have proof.
    CCP can fly bombers over ROC airspace because Trump is gone

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    • #

      Taiwan are indeed admirable, but they will track your mobile phone to the extent that if you run out of batteries a nice man from the government will show up within the hour to tell you to charge your phone.

      I am loving the 200 plus days of freedom that elimination achieved in WA.

      Though aware an outbreak could occur.

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        Richard Jenkins

        Jo, I , at my age, fear WA and Qld. Many Melbournians have antibodies. Many, like Connor McKenna did not even feel sick. Connor was tested as a footbller. We were advised to get tested if we had symptoms. Now we find the virus in sewage where there are no known ‘carriers’. At my age I choose to self isolate. Under 50 and not suffering from diabetes, asthma or similar frail conditions I would be mixing and hoping to get antibodies.
        Good governance would provide anti body tests. Virus tests are a waste of time and money. The 99% negative results do not prove anything lasting.
        A few days after the test you may be positive.
        I would be happy to mingle with people who have a positive antibody test. I beieve the suggestion those people are stillcarriers is alarmist and historically unsubstantiated.
        I have farmore faith in antibody test ‘clearance certificates’ than rush produced and rush tested vaccines.
        WA and QLD.citizens have had there tourism destroyed and misled their public into the eradiction hoax bubble by ignoring fighting the virus.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          Now we find the virus in sewage where there are no known ‘carriers’.

          This is a sceptical site, so be sceptical. The virus was found in Spanish sewerage many months before the outbreak started. [Retro tested] As I said, be sceptical.

          But is an infection delayed an infection prevented? Fair question.

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          Andrew McRae

          Richard you’re perhaps referring to news such as this one?
          https://www.health.qld.gov.au/news-events/doh-media-releases/releases/repeat-positive-wastewater-results

          “It is, of course, also possible that these detections relate to previous COVID-19 cases who can shed viral fragments for a couple of months after they are no longer infectious.”

          Months, they say. Okay that’s one explanation, the official explanation, that the immune system is able to keep a lid on the infection so it does not cause illness, but the virus (or fragments of it) do not all get eliminated immediately, thus the months of persistence.
          Another possibility is false positives, that the test is not specific enough to covid19. But that is not what we’re being told, and we’re a long way into the Covid19 research game at this point, so it would be weird if a high false positive rate had gone unnoticed all this time.
          Based on the “months” lag statement and as these locations had cases during the last 2 months, I don’t see what the cause for concern is in this news.

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    Tides of Mudgee

    Here’s 13 minutes of Giuliani telling of his plans for Biden concerning his corruption in Ukraine. Stirring stuff. ToM

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCm9HkVaVYk

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    • #
      Chad

      I am waiting to see how they will smother Giuliani to shut down any major disruption to the big plan.
      They already tried the “honeypot” trap once, so expect something more effective like a major secret bribe allegation ..or ultimately the “ Offer he cannot refuse” !

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Thanks for that. Strong stuff indeed. His podcasts should be interesting
      Cheers
      Dave B

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      Tides of Mudgee

      Sorry everyone, the Giuliani clip is 12 months old. Too busy looking at the month, not the year. ToM

      20

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Off to a Bad START: Putin Schools Biden with One Phone Call

    Biden’s promise of multilateral cooperation with allies didn’t last a week. Indeed, he showed even more disregard for America’s NATO allies than Trump ever did. Biden’s phone call to Russian President Putin was his first serious test of foreign and security policy; he flunked. In the course of that one phone call, he casually agreed to a five-year extension of the New START Treaty, a treaty that originally took months to negotiate.

    [Snip — best not copy whole pieces without permission. – j]

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    OldOzzie

    Biden’s normal is abnormal

    The media is peddling the narrative that Chairman Xiden is bringing back normalcy.

    Well, let us see what the media and the rest of the Democrats consider normal.

    The new normalcy is impeaching a president and trying him after his term ends and he has gone home to Mar-A-Lago.

    The new normalcy is arresting and prosecuting a man for making memes on Twitter.

    The new normalcy is 25,000 National Guard troops in Washington on Inauguration Day.

    The new normalcy is replacing a viewing audience for the occasion with 100,000 American flags.

    The new normalcy is cries of deprogramming political opponents.

    The new normalcy is banning reporters who ask tough questions at press conferences.

    The new normalcy is not deporting criminals.

    The new normalcy is making women shower with men in the military.

    The new normalcy is attempts to expel duly elected opponents from the Senate.

    The guy with the abnormal personality is Chairman Xiden who fondles little girls in public. Who knows what he does in private?

    And his administration reflects that.

    It is abnormal, just like him.

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  • #
    David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

    Two sentences which which are determining world events:
    # Carbon dioxide is a pollutant; and
    # HCQ is a poison.
    Both slipped into existing legislation via regulation by unknown bureaucrats in USA and Australia respectively.
    Cheers
    Dave B

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    OldOzzie

    Unite and Heal With Show Trials and Fascist Purges

    Enjoy unity at gunpoint in the Bidenist banana republic.

    Joe Biden has called for “unity” and “healing”. And nobody knows as much about healing as Joe whose wife has a doctorate in education from the university that hosts his Biden Institute and the Beau Biden Foundation which was charging $3K for lessons on preventing online child s@x grooming even as Hunter’s laptop with the Foundation’s sticker allegedly showed him doing it.

    Except maybe Joe’s brother who took out $650,000 in personal loans from a company that bankrupted local hospitals while trading on his brother’s name and connections to his campaign.

    “I think it has to happen,” Biden said, mandating the show impeachment trial of his predecessor.

    Once upon a time, impeachments were rare things. These days, Democrats aren’t considered truly progressive if they don’t impeach a Republican president twice in one term. President Trump is back in Florida, but that won’t stop the Democrats from impeaching him anyway

    Like most ideas that travel the circuitous route between his handlers, his brain, and his mouth, it may be impossible to understand what Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. said, but it’s pretty clear what the senile hack ruling a city under the shadow of military occupation and political terror meant.

    Unity is when Democrats get their way. Unity is when no one opposes them. Unity is when they terrorize their political opposition into submitting and keeping their mouths shut.

    Or as Speaker Pelosi put it, “I don’t think it’s very unifying to say, ‘Oh, let’s just forget it and move on.’ That’s not how you unify.”

    How do you unify? The same way every great democratic people’s regime did from France to Russia to China to San Francisco — with show trials and purges of the enemies of the people.

    Nothing says unity like a city full of barbed wire and soldiers. Not to mention a one-party system that is obsessed with criminalizing its political opposition using a fake state of emergency.

    “There can be no unity, federal or other, with liberal-labour politicians, with disruptors of the working-class movement, with those who defy the will of the majority,” Vladimir Lenin wrote. “There can and must be unity among all consistent Marxists.”

    Questioning an election has become incitement to insurrection. To suggest that there’s anything illegitimate about Biden is sedition. Unity means believing that Joe Biden legitimately won an election for which Democrats changed the rules beforehand, then declared a national emergency, and inaugurated him behind barbed wire and lines of soldiers authorized to shoot.

    That and believing that his assistant health secretary is a woman.

    Believing implausible things is the essence of party discipline. If you want to understand how hardened Communists could shout, “Long live Stalin” just before they were shot in the gulags, it’s because they had spent a generation being conditioned to believe whatever they were told.

    “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command,” George Orwell wrote in 1984.

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    Chad

    Sky has another Skeptic host .
    Becoming more prominent and outspokenr against the AGW propaganda, Cory Bernardi is using his new slot on Sky News (Ch. 83 FTA) to chip away at he false claims of the Alarmists.
    Stating clearly his position that any Climate Change is 100% natural and unrelated to CO2 levels, …he has interviewed Ian Plimer who gave a very blatent comment regarding the CO2 illusion , and a complete dismantling of the…. “97% of scientists”…argument.
    All good encouraging stuff.

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  • #
    OldOzzie

    Black Lives Matter movement nominated for Nobel peace prize

    Norwegian MP cites global impact of BLM in raising awareness and consciousness of racial injustice

    The Black Lives Matter movement has been nominated for the 2021 Nobel peace prize for the way its call for systemic change has spread around the world.

    From the Comments

    – You can’t make this stuff up…

    – More proof that “Liberalism is a mental disorder”.

    – we need to start building asylums again…

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    greggg

    Lysine Therapy for SARS-CoV-2.

    ‘Approximately 80% of acute stage Covid-19 sufferers given lysine displayed a minimum 70% reduction in symptoms in the first 48 hours (not including long term symptomatic subjects).’
    ‘One of the most important observations in relation to lysine was the incredibly short time to eliminate/reduce fever presumably due to extinguishing the associated cytokine storm.’

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344210822_Lysine_Therapy_for_SARS-CoV-2

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    Neville

    Don’t forget Rowan, Rita and James tomorrow (Sunday) on Sky News channel 83 ( VIC) from 9 am to 11 am. Check times for other states.
    Definitely the best 2 hours on Aussie TV, IMHO.

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    Hanrahan

    The Good, The bad And The Ugly, a classic film that overcame the derision of being a Spaghetti Western with what may have been the most iconic theme ever:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0GBfD44Gww

    I mention this because I’m addicted to westerns as one may be addicted to cheap wine: You would PREFER better but…… but spaghetti westerns appear to be the least concerned about copyright OR US courts are only concerned about US held copyright. I think the latter may be true.

    Anyone else while away the dark hours watching something that even Yanks today would regret having made? No group has EVA been racially profiled as Mexicans, they are bumbling idiots. One Texan with a six shooter can take out a dozen without reloading.

    Just musing. 😀

    10

  • #
    el gordo

    The Lucky Country

    ‘Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be allowed to watch the Australian Open, organisers said Saturday in a big boost to the season’s opening Grand Slam.

    ‘Aggressive restrictions on incoming travel have helped keep the coronavirus largely at bay in Australia, making it one of the few places in the world where fans can still attend sports events in significant numbers.’ (China Daily)

    10

    • #
      Tilba Tilba

      ‘Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be allowed to watch the Australian Open, organisers said Saturday in a big boost to the season’s opening Grand Slam.

      Friends of ours on the Gold Coast are heading down, however they had to be very specific as to the matches, times, and seats they booked. Hotels were something of a nightmare as well.

      We’ve been to the first couple of days of the Australian Open several times – it’s great. But this year will be totally different … no wandering around all the outside courts and the several free show courts – all very controlled.

      We sometimes go to Qualifying on the weekend prior as well – it’s free – but that’s all not happening (all entrants determined by rankings).

      And the place is huge – a crowd of 25-30,000 will make it feel like a ghost town I expect. It doesn’t really constitute “significant numbers”, nor a “normal” sporting event but still, it’s on.

      Will be interesting to see whether Melbourne experiences an outbreak around the end of February as a result.

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    RicDre

    Interview: Climate Change – A Different Perspective with Judith Curry

    My recent interview on the Strong and Free podcast.

    https://judithcurry.com/2021/01/30/interview-climate-change-a-different-perspective-with-judith-curry/#more-26931

    A very interesting discussion between Judith Curry and Christopher Balkaran.

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    Ric

    That’s creepy, I just this second read that and came over here to post a comment

    A lot of the answers as to why the left hate nuclear and why we have the arrogance to tell poor people in third world companies how to live their lives is contained in shellenbergers new book. It’s a good read.

    I read a number of climate books and reviewed them here, including his.

    https://superforestblog.wordpress.com/2020/11/27/books-on-the-climate-emergency-suggested-christmas-reading-for-sceptics/

    Tonyb

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    • #
      RicDre

      Tonyb:

      I purchased and read ‘Apocalypse Never’ shortly after it was released but your comment is a good prompt for me to go back and re-read it.

      10

      • #

        Ric

        I thoroughly recommend the Ross Clark satirical book. I also reviewed.

        Short but definitely shades of animal farm in its satire on climate and one which with bidens win looks increasingly possible

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        • #
          RicDre

          Tonyb: “I thoroughly recommend the Ross Clark satirical book.”

          I downloaded it as a Kindle Book and will read it. Thanks for the information.

          01

        • #
          RicDre

          Tonyb:

          I finished reading Ross Clark’s book. It definitely has echoes of Animal Farm and 1984. I was expecting the book to end with an “I Love Big Brother” moment, but Ross Clark didn’t quite get the main character to go there.

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          • #
            tonyb

            Ric

            The worst thing is that it has all become very believable and the step by step descent into madness where facts are ignored weather exaggerated and brash assertions made by climate activists, has an air of inevitability unless something dramatic happens.

            The pandemic has shown people want to be safe and that it matters more than liberty, so I think activists are pushing at an open door when the alternative is a “climate Armageddon.”

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            • #
              RicDre

              Tonyb: “The worst thing is that it has all become very believable …”

              I agree with your assessment. The PM characters are slowly digging themselves into a hole and at each step they could stop digging, get out of the hole and fill it in but instead they dig it a little deeper until it finally collapses in on them, then a new PM is put in place and the process repeats itself.

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  • #
    el gordo

    Lukewarmer Breaks Ranks

    ‘ … we do not have a convergent situation with these climate models. And this is not mention that the 21st century projections from the climate models, don’t include solar variations. They don’t include volcanoes or the ocean circulation, all of these things that they don’t include. So what are we left with? And then there are these precise targets, such as we will exceed our carbon budget in 2038. This is way too much precision that is derived from these very inadequate climate models.’

    Judith Curry

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Looks as if your island continent will be ‘surrounded by climate change’ this week as cyclones form to the west, north, and east, while a low forms to the south to keep Adelaide chilled, at least according to their BoM’s models for the next 7 days.

      Average temps and showery for the east coast, average and dry for the west (Perth) with a spot or two of rain up in the NW thanks to a troppo, and not a heat wave in sight!

      Our shaky isles are under a happy high pressure keeping any ‘weather’ at bay, far out to sea, thankfully. However, a bunch of CCCCCC bankers & bureaucrats have decided NZ “isn’t doing enough” to reach “zero” (more EVs and unreliables will cure that) and tomorrow, Monday, is the first day of Part 2 of Cinders’ *gun-buyback* scheme. The political climate is a catastrophe: the natural climate is doing just fine.

      31

  • #
    el gordo

    Marohasy pours cold water on Hughes, death of GBR greatly exaggerated.

    https://jennifermarohasy.com/2021/01/measuring-old-corals-coral-reefs-part-2/

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    Hanrahan

    Could silver be the next short squeeze? It is plausible because it is heavily oversold and there are new millionaires or just guys with $100,000 extra in their trading accounts, emboldened by their success last week. Au and Ag are ripe for the picking. In any case the big short sellers may let caution influence their trading. Many think that Ag would rise higher, easily double, if allowed to trade freely.

    https://kingworldnews.com/kwn-metals-wrap-alasdair-macleod-1-30-2021/

    The fact that ordinary people took on the bullion establishment, squeezing it badly and might renew its attack, is an unexpected but important development. In the ordinary course of events, bullion banks are long in London and hedge their position on Comex. For some time now they have abandoned that sensible policy, and they are caught short on Comex with no liquidity in London. Correctly, the small investors on Robinhood have worked out that by squeezing the bullion banks in their silver contracts there are enormous gains to be made.

    https://kingworldnews.com/robinhood-silver-traders-may-break-the-comex-and-seriously-hurt-some-bullion-banks/

    10

  • #
    Matt Gray

    Hi Jo,

    I need an opinion on the claims of the following article from Before its news regarding the Covid RNA vaccines. I don’t have the expertise in the requisite fields to evaluate it properly. The article is longish and in what I would call a “sensationalist” site so if you think that it is not likely to be correct I can accept that. Also if this is deemed in any way unsuitable for your Blog I can also accept that.
    Regards,
    Matt

    https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbeforeitsnews.com%2Feu%2F2021%2F01%2Fthink-twice-before-taking-covid-19-gene-therapy-vaccine-what-to-do-if-you-have-already-had-the-so-called-vaccine-2667500.html%3AyrC-1nWiXkXaCxEKCBthEtXTzGg&cuid=6472856

    It’s from Before its news, so I am unsure about all of the claims. What has me concerned is in regards to PEG and its abilities to transform cells.

    High-efficiency polyethylene glycol-mediated transformation of mammalian cells
    • Robert J. Klebe,
    • June V. Harriss,
    • Dandelle P. Hanson &
    • Charles J. Gauntt
    Somatic Cell and Molecular Genetics volume 10, pages495–502(1984)Cite this article
    • 65 Accesses
    • 12 Citations
    • Metricsdetails
    Abstract
    A new, high-efficiency method for transformation of mammalian cells with nucleic acids is described which yields 105−106 plaques/μg poliovirus infectious RNA (iRNA). The optimized procedure consists of two steps: (1) exposure of cells to iRNA in a high ionic-strength buffer followed by (2) a brief exposure to a 35% polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution. Optimized conditions for each variable in the procedure are described. Under optimized conditions for PEG-mediated transformation with RNA, large numbers of transformants are recovered with plasmid DNA as well. The procedure presented is similar to other high-efficiency PEG-mediated methods previously described for the genetic transformation of both nonprotoplasted Escherichia coliand yeast.
    [Matt, I have not looked at this, so can’t review. PEG is a pretty common lab chemical. I’ve heard of allergies to it being a problem. I’d be wary of drawing too much from a lab exp with “35% PEG” — in vivo is not the same. Perhaps other readers know more. – J

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    el gordo

    Gosselin has asked everyone to spread the word that the MWP was universal.

    https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1akI_yGSUlO_qEvrmrIYv9kHknq4&ll=17.45040138918116%2C23.272562000000065&z=2

    The primary aim is to simply illustrate what global warming looked like in historical times and as it was warmer than our present warm thermal optimum, its the future according to Michael Mann.

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    CHRIS

    Here we go…another Nelson Bunker Hunt (and family) – type attempt to corner the silver market? ROFLMAO

    00

    • #
      Hanrahan

      If you doubt there is money to be made being on the right side of a short squeeze check this out:

      https://i.redd.it/r557em3t5ce61.png

      I believe this guy was accumulating for years but he’s doin’ OK. Cashed out $13 mill, still holding $46 mil.

      BTW I have no dog in the fight, I’m a long time holder of Au, Ag. Nothing more, nothing less.

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    el gordo

    ‘A scientist working on some aspect of the climate problem may know very little about carbon dioxide, the carbon budget, radiative transfer, all that fundamental science, but they will accept the climate consensus because it’s easy and good for their career. And so it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.’

    Judith Curry / Climate Etc.

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    el gordo

    There is a significant link between ENSO and sea salt deposition during summer from the Law Dome ice core in Antarctica.

    https://watertechbyrie.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/vance2012-antartica-law-dome-ice-core-salt-content-e1540939103404.jpg

    Essentially we are living through an El Nino epoch similar to the MWP and the LIA was a la Nina epoch. On the evidence to hand, the whole system is solar driven and AGW is not worth a pinch of salt.

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      el gordo

      ‘Importantly, phase changes in the PDO have a propensity to coincide with changes in the relative frequency of ENSO events, where the positive phase of the PDO is associated with an enhanced frequency of El Niño events, while the negative phase is shown to be more favourable for the development of La Niña events.’ (Verdon and Franks 2006)

      00