CharonY

Thank you for sacrificing your neurons so that others do not have to.

Yeah, stupid bylaws here, too. Based on weather patterns there is going to be an uptick of ehm ticks. Unless one is already in a highly tick infested zone, not sure whether the numbers are projected to increase even further. But yet another reservoir for diseases.

Unless, of course it turns out that we actually to develop new ways to deal with resistant bacteria and/or they become resistant against the new weapons, too. Often it is not about having better and newer tools, but how prudent we are in their use. And unfortunately our track record is not that great.

Only peripheral related, but Trump was tested positive for COVID-19. That could shake up the campaign a bit, depending on hot the progression is. Also shows that no-one is fully safe.

Time to let out the chicken and ducks. And potentially opossums? But seriously though, tick-borne diseases are likely to become an increasing problem with potentially very serious consequences.

It is also a matter of context. E.g. saying that one should listen to scientists when it comes to pandemic responses of course means that one should listen to folks with actual expertise in those areas. Not scientists with expertise in other areas or hobbyists.

A part of the issue is that folks thinking that they are in the right tend to make intellectual shortcuts. In the early 2000s I was somewhat interested in various atheist movements, in part because I was worried about rising anti-intellectualism and creationism. But apparently once enough folks gather things go quickly to a self-congratulating group of folks who cannot stop emphasizing how rational and therefore superior they are (without actually putting in the work). There were plenty of folks, including academics who did a great job in outreach and educating. But some of their followers were sketchy and did not put in the intellectual work before succumbing to insufferable smugness (the result being attitudes that are way closer to religious organizations than folks would admit) .

It is a sad state of affairs when it comes down preventing a disaster to take office again. But almost by necessity it does mean that it will overshadow any policy talks. You may be right, it might influence voters, but probably more in terms of actually casting a vote rather than addressing who to vote for. I mean, the only other model would be one in which folks immediately forget everything that is happening around them the second it is not on TV anymore. ... actually, maybe I need to revise my thinking of this situation.

To be fair, do you think that any of these issues need more highlighting. I mean, if you are undecided on these issues, you are living so deep under a rock that you won't be able to watch the debate anyway. That was pretty much the strategy of the Clinton campaign.

My suspicion is that at least the Trump campaign won't agree to that. It was basically the only arrow in their quiver.

This is something that I have not heard. I never found Biden to be very good in debates (not like, say Obama could be). His appeal to many was his ability to project empathy and just being human (you can see some of it when Trump attacked him on the drug addiction of one of his sons). On the formal side, he was more known as a gaffe machine. For the most part it was more about Biden not screwing up. He had the added bonus that in contrast to Clinton and Obama, he was actually allowed to show more emotion. That all being said, I think the US politics is polarized to a degree where these kind of things play no role anymore. They could have just sat there and throw pillows at each other (which, face it, would have been more entertaining and just as informative) and there would be little movement in decisions. I mean the media made a big show about the fact that Trump did not only fail to condemn white supremacy and extremism and gave kind of a shout out to an extremist group. But on the other hand, this was one of the consistent things he did, so the surprise is utterly misplaced.

That is true. I did not watch it i one go as it was just a shit show. I expected Biden to be more rattled. I think no one expected policies from Trump, including Wallace. Also I am not sure why, but I find it hilarious that Trump thinks that folks in Europe live in forests and call them forest villages.

I think Biden was not too bad relatively speaking. I think if seen for the first time and compare him to, say, Obama, it is pretty bad. But if you know that he has got a stutter it ain't that bad. I think Trump actually knows that, as he tried aggressively to interrupt Biden to keep him off track. Trump was his usual self, unable to face reality or condemn white supremacy among other stuff.

I do not think that we have got anyone with actual expertise on the subject. Based on my amateur reading it seems that there is increasing evidence that sexual orientation, gendr identity and sex are independent components. Most often they are organized in a similar manner, but they do not have to. On the biological side there are some candidate mechanisms, including the role of testosterone in organizing these traits. There is a huge library of literature on this subject, but lacking expertise I would not be able to identify the most relevant papers in that field.

One thing that Brexiteers really wanted was limiting freedom of movement. Ironically, the Switzerland is part of Schengen, which makes travel easier than the current agreement with the UK. I.e. folks with permanent residency in any EU country is able to travel freely through the EU including Switzerland, but excluding UK (before Brexit). Also the agreements has put some significant disadvantages on Switzerland. As Dim implied, at least the UK had a say in EU rules, whereas Switzerland did not.

I mean we technically one could argue that animal species are basically "designed" by committee in so far as they emerged from a rigorous selection process. Among the "engineered" versions we do have, say, pugs.

Depends on how you define isolated. But if you do not have its DNA in some form, you cannot sequence it. If you got a mi with something x, it is difficult but not necessarily impossible to identify the viral reads from the background. But unless you got a good reference to map the reads to, it would be very tricky indeed.

It will also depend on the complexity of the task at hand and the requirement for specialist knowledge. A single person, regardless of ability, can only go so far.

Oh, of course. But if you got enough power, apparently you can determine reality.

On a related note, the fact that he is several hundred millions in debt coming due, which would be a security risk if it was anyone else.

Can you provide a scientific reference? Because there is no data to support benefits. As a whole, nutritional research is difficult and even after decades of work many links are still uncertain. The reason of course being that it is almost impossible to test human food intake in a controlled environment for the required length of time to actually see health differences. Based on that, claims that certain food supplements will be effective in protecting against a novel disease are likely misleading at best or outright false claims at worst. For an actual example with at least some data is the observation that folks with vitamin D deficiency have a higher risk of complications from COVID-19. However, while it is possible that vitamin D sufficiency has some protective properties, it is also possible that folks that are deficient also have other risk factors that cause increased risk. For that reason folks are starting trials to test whether increasing serum levels of vitamin D might have some benefits. At the same time it is premature to call everyone to take supplements (which also can cause adverse effects) because no one knows at this point whether it will actually work. Eating nuts is likely not going to do much bad (unless you overindulge) but again, without clinical data it does not make sense to call for consumption. You know what makes sense? A call for healthy eating habits. A varied diet with sufficient fruit and vegetables, not too high calorie intake, maintain a healthy weight. These correlate more significantly than any single supplement (obesity and cardiovascular issues are highly correlated with COVID-19 related complications. And on top, it keeps you alive even outside of a pandemic.

It is weird that you need to go back to a time before any of the modern countries or even their predecessor existed (or even the concept of nation states). And even then of course Pax Romana was not a peace in the modern sense but rather has to be seen in contrast to the concept of ongoing conquest that predated it. There were plenty of border skirmishes, rebellions and short bouts of civil wars. I do not think that this in any way invalidates the idea that forming an Union has prevented conflicts. Quite the opposite, actually.

It is a bit sad that "never again" was just a pretty lie. I understand what you are saying and just focusing on the major member states is a rather narrow view. However, I think it is quite clear that the overall point was that the EU was instrumental in avoiding a continuous conflict between these member states, resulting in the longest peace period between those nations.

There are a lot of different approaches and quite a few resources tracking current developments (e.g. here). If not provided, you can then google the respective type of vaccines to get more info on the type. Due to urgency there are many more types in development than you would normally see. Folks have a good idea about the structure of SARS-CoV-2. I am not sure why you would want to compare it to influenza, though. It is a coronavirus and there is quite a bit info about coronaviruses available. I am not sure why a comparison specifically to influenza is relevant. Steroids are (regardless of origin) are not antivirals as such. Their main role in treating infections is that they modulate inflammatory and immune responses. In COVID-19 these inflammations cause severe damages and treatment with steroids have shown to mitigate effects. There are other components that are suspected or shown in vitro to have antiviral properties but I suspect most are a couple of steps away before they can be demonstrated to be viable treatment options (but I have not really followed the lit, so there may be developments that I am not aware of).

He actually did a splendid job, if you have not heard of him. I have to apologize, I think I was too unclear. What I meant was in relation to OP that the leave campaign was influenced by outside forces, just on the sly and it is a a bit funny complaining in a thread complaining about undue influence. One part of interaction was via Cambridge Analytica, which is part of a targeted advertising campaign. Now, the company is British, but had Bannon as the vice president and he used harvested data for targeted radicalization and distribution and mobilization of right-wing group throughout Europe. It could be said that his efforts have been faltering, in part because some right wing groups, including the German AfD, as support for the US has been wavering. At the same time, reports indicate some sketchy money flows from Russia. While it is unclear how much influence that guy ultimately had, it is clear that nowadays national campaigns are not national anymore. Everyone with stakes in media, think tanks, advertising groups, consulting groups and so on, is basically playing an international game. As nice as these sentiments are (and I do agree that the Remain campaign did a poor job), the only thing the Leavers have to do (and they did) is to put up images (straight from the third reich, I might add) of hordes of foreign folks crossing the borders and suddenly folks want Islands all over again.