outbreak! (ebola, sars, coronavirus, etc)

(Mind you, I left out the part where one day he said, "That's because I fucking hate Florida"--took everyone in the room by surprise.)

that's ok, I hate the part of it i live in too

By training, Fauci would far prefer to address the facts in terms of forming the most effective actions that can be taken in response, always moving forward as the facts on the ground keep shifting. His interviewers are most often trained in politics and they would far prefer to address the facts in terms of their political implications. Fauci knows he is in a political role as a government spokesperson, not just a medical expert and these interviews provide him the best available platform for disseminating the most current advice and stressing the need for public cooperation. He parries the political questions about as deftly as anyone in his position could, while still giving credible answers.

He stands out so much because he is clearly very competent in his public role, more so than any other visible administration official, but also as more competent than his interviewers, whose questions are so often over reaching or beside the point.

I also think he's the best example I've seen yet of something you've heard constantly since Trump's election, often with the series of generals he hired and then fired: that he stays and tries his best to be diplomatic because it would be disastrous if he got 2% more political and got fired. He walks right up to that line, as close as you can get, and stops--he seems to have figured out where it is. (Helped, I think, by the country's deep trust in him...I mean, minus Trump's base and the death-threat people. If Trump were to fire him at this point--and I'm not saying he's not capable of doing that, it's Trump--the fallout would be 1000 times what it was with any of those generals, who were largely in the background.)

Fauci knows he is in a political role as a government spokesperson, not just a medical expert

I have been a Fauci stan from way back (before he was popular). Agree but with a slight quibble: NIH/NIAID are primarily research entities, and are only involved incidentally in treatment. His role is as an administrator of a research institution - though he is, of course, a medical doctor, he hasn't spent a whole heck of a lot of a time being a clinician. Immunology is his jam; he doesn't spend his day with sick patients

As a result I would prefer more of a driver's seat role for CDC - which is more the entity that is supposed to coordinate medical activity as opposed to scientific activity.

As an aside I have spent many fascinating hours around NIH scientists, who are often brilliant and funny and very well-versed in their fields - but who are only tangentially aware of, y'know, people who have diseases. I recently went to a medical conference (on an unrelated issue) and was impressed by the erudition of the scientists, but their expertise was overwhelmingly in how the disease progressed in like, mice. Or fruit flies. So while very impressed by the science I had to keep clamping my hand over my mouth so as not to scream HEY HAVE YOU HEARD OF PEOPLE?

This thing will go through many phases of something-new-to-worry-about (if you don't eat meat, this is not one of them).

http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/business/meat-plant-closures-smithfield/index.html

I was wondering more about how much demand-side was affected, but yes also about ability to traffic into the US and ability to import chemicals for fentanyl production

Don't like linking to Vice articles, but here you go:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bvgazz/sinaloa-cartel-drug-traffickers-explain-why-coronavirus-is-very-bad-for-their-business

The coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has thrown a massive wrench in the gears of the global economy. Seemingly every industry that relies on China for labor or raw materials has been affected, most notably companies that make medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, which are essential for treating sick people and containing the spread of the virus. Drug cartels have not been immune.

Jesús said that normally his cooks keep about a month’s supply of chemicals on hand, but they were already running low and having difficulty restocking. A cook from another Sinaloa cartel faction, who identified himself as Enrique, reported a similar problem, saying the price of acetone, which is used to manufacture heroin, has more than doubled over the past 15 days, climbing from around $60 for 20 litres to $150.

Drug cartels have not been immune.

grudging respect

http://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13/politics/donald-trump-anthony-fauci-tweet/index.html

We were talking about Fauci just above:

If Trump were to fire him at this point--and I'm not saying he's not capable of doing that, it's Trump

I still don't think he'll go through with it...maybe he's, uh, distancing himself from Fauci.

The tweet is a warning shot across the bow, which he can do his cagey denial thing like, "people are saying..." about.

Dunno if Trump will fire Fauci but if he did, there is a small dark part of me that would be cool with Fauci saying "fine, enjoy your virus, have fun getting reelected after killing 2 million people."

Then my actual adult brain kicks back in: It would devastate NIAID, which is Faucitown. And it would reverberate forever through the science and public health communities basically forever.

that and kill 2 million people

(ron howard voice: he did enjoy the virus, and did have fun getting reelected after killing 2 million people)

silver linings:

Last month was the first March without a school shooting in the United States since 2002.

— robertklemko (@RobertKlemko) April 13, 2020

Jesus that’s grim

fukkin yikes

wow.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200410/p2a/00m/0na/002000c

thus far data and anecdata (hospitalist pals) suggests that we are doing a Good Job, Buddy here in northern new mexico. cautiously hopeful that we may come out of this OK, public health-wise, though the tourist industry has taken a huge hit

oh i saw this about copper fiber masks in chile too. xpost

Faraday cage effect protects you from all 5 of the Gs

i am learning all sorts of things about copper today. Makes sense that the customs desks at the airport are all in copper.

in chile that is. I was wondering.

I thought Macron's speech last night was terrible. Firstly, the bad spray tan and wobbly camera gave it a Zoom ambiance---no one wants that! More importantly, he had rather little information and yet went on and on. Most importantly, he proposed the reopening of schools on 11 May, which is ludicrous: the schools were closed first because children are an important vector of the disease, so why open them when the disease is still rapidly spreading? There may be widespread testing available by then, but that's optimistic. As it is, it looks like children, teachers, and parents are going to be sacrificed to "get the economy restarted", so that parents can "go back to work". Président des riches, effectivement. We will be resisting.

he's like a more lucid joe biden huh

idk what i'm saying

wait why are customs desks made of copper? we would be sniffing pfid tags thru their desks or?

in chile they have a lot of noticeable copper around customs. Besides it being mined here, I am now assuming it's because of its anti-bacterial properties.

ahhh so a faraday cage for pathogens then ;p

I actually just ordered one of these masks because it looks cool. They already make it into a textile here, not the copper mesh in the japanese article above.

53.6% of Chilean exports (2017). The country used to be financed by bird guano, now its copper.

The country used to be financed by bird guano

source?

Birds.

*swish*

gonna have to break into the strategic guano reserves if the global economy continues to tank

I was wondering more about how much demand-side was affected, but yes also about ability to traffic into the US and ability to import chemicals for fentanyl production
Don't like linking to Vice articles, but here you go:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bvgazz/sinaloa-cartel-drug-traffickers-explain-why-coronavirus-is-very-bad-for-their-business

The coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, has thrown a massive wrench in the gears of the global economy. Seemingly every industry that relies on China for labor or raw materials has been affected, most notably companies that make medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, which are essential for treating sick people and containing the spread of the virus. Drug cartels have not been immune.
Jesús said that normally his cooks keep about a month’s supply of chemicals on hand, but they were already running low and having difficulty restocking. A cook from another Sinaloa cartel faction, who identified himself as Enrique, reported a similar problem, saying the price of acetone, which is used to manufacture heroin, has more than doubled over the past 15 days, climbing from around $60 for 20 litres to $150.

― Elvis Telecom,Monday, 13 April 2020 03:53 (yesterday) link

Lol no joke yesterday I was idly thinking to myself, "I wonder how VICE is going to find an edgy angle on Coronavirus. Probably something about drugs or drug dealers"

We will be resisting.
― Joey Corona (Euler),Tuesday, April 14, 2020 10:09 AM (eight hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

euler this is v.french of u. so proud

xp o ye of little faith
https://video.vice.com/en_us/show/shelter-in-place-with-shane-smith

xp Voodoo (an aside):
Pre-Haber process, guano was the main source of importing nitrogenous fertilizer and obtaining saltpeter for gunpowder in the 19th and very-early 20th century. It was a big deal and fortunes were made; the US still claims 10 islands under the Guano Islands Act of 1856.

Chile was a participant in the Chincha Islands War (1864-66), joining with Peru to defeat a Spanish claim to some guano islands off the Peruvian coast, and in the War of the Pacific (1879-84) it fought with Peru to claim Tarapacá and it's guano islands, and with Bolivia to claim the caliche nitrate deposits of the Atacama desert (and Bolivia's coastline). It's just a fascinating era of economic history, when thousands died over bird shit. Though guano depleted and exports declined, from 1884-1929 or so the main export was nitrates serving the same markets. Since the 30s, the largest export has been copper.

Is that where the Guano Apes came from

there is a good 99% invisible about guano. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/guano-mania/

Oh, I get hysterical, guano-mania
Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?

Anyway, speaking about Chile and the outbreak,

Newsweek: Chile counts those who died of coronavirus as recovered because they're no longer contagious

Deporte y Vida: The barbarity of the Minister of Health of Chile on those killed by Covid19 that surpasses any other of Trump (a Google translated title)

Can we call it the Trump virus yet? It happened while he was in charge and it's what he'd do with other presidents

the difference is that we know it doesn't make sense, and that since they don't care what we think (or even if we live or die), you're just doing a parody performance for the choir

(not that i don't do that parody performance quite frequently - just saying it's cathartic in a way and natural, but means nothing)

well since dead bodies have been shown to be contagious, i guess that is wrong. xpost.

lol?

The NYT asked its writers to describe a bright thing for them during these dark times. Donald G. McNeil Jr., their great science reporter, says he can finally sleep again. "There's nothing left to warn against. Everyone - almost everyone - understands."https://t.co/iPTPAxJHqL pic.twitter.com/D65xOUgWIq

— Mark Berman (@markberman) April 14, 2020

Massive under-counting of pandemic deaths being probed in NYC:

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-19-deaths-confirmed-probable-daily-04142020.pdf

New York City today has reported 3,778 additional deaths that have occurred since March 11 and have been classified as "probable," defined as follows: “decedent [...] had no known positive laboratory test for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) but the death certificate lists as a cause of death “COVID-19” or an equivalent"

Today will be the highest amount of reported deaths in the USA, we've already eclipsed April 10th's peak with several hours of reporting left.

so, two Easters from now eh

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-14/harvard-researchers-say-some-distancing-may-be-needed-into-2022

i won't make it. i gotta avoid reading articles like that because imagining that kind of hell for 2 years, even intermittent, is enough to shut down all of my optimism

(not telling anybody not to post it, just venting my own despair)