Today there are multiple articles in leading publications calling for renewed efforts to uncover the origin of Covid-19. Until and unless the Chinese authorities come clean on the identity of the earliest Covid patients, speculation as to the cause of the plague will persist.
A growing number of experts suspect it was a leak from the bio-research lab at Wuhan. And after something as globally significant as Covid-19, the world deserves an explanation.
The same was true decades ago for AIDS. The search for its origin was traced in "The River: A Journey to the Source of HIV and AIDs," by journalist Edward Hooper.
Just as with Covid-19, the dominant theory initially was that HIV/AIDS jumped to humans via animals -- in that case when a simian immunodeficiency virus carried by African chimpanzees mutated into the human disease.
But after a decade of investigation, Hooper sided with others who argued that the mutation was the result of Western medical interventions in Africa during the 1950s. That was when more than a million doses of an experimental oral polio vaccine were administered in Africa, some of which were manufactured from chimp kidneys.
According to Hooper's research, the earliest known cases of AIDS appear to have tracked closely with the distribution of that vaccine. I should note here that Hooper's theory was extremely controversial at the time he published it in 1999 and some scientific journals later declared that it had been fully debunked.
Other studies indicated that the virus may have mutated much earlier than the 1950s -- in the 1920s when hunters of chimps got infected with the simian version either by eating the animals or in cuts they received in the course of the hunt. The chimps in turn apparently got the disease by eating two types of monkeys.
The issue is so clouded that probably the best we can say is that a definitive origin for HIV/AIDS has never been established. And that may well prove to be the case with Covid as well. For now, the most we can say is that the escape of a bat coronavirus under study at the Wuhan bio-lab seems at least as likely as the cause of the Covid pandemic as the "wet market" animal transfer theory.
Getting to the bottom of what happened is complicated because then-President Trump weaponized the matter by blaming China for deliberately releasing the disease -- a charge for which there is absolutely no evidence. But finding out as much as we can has nothing to do with the toxic state of U.S. politics and everything to do with preventing more pandemics.
There are far more labs like the one at Wuhan here in the U.S. than in China and they have had many documented accidents and leaks. That an outright disaster has not previously occurred because of those incidents is small comfort.
Much tighter regulation of bio-warfare research is needed before the next pandemic we unleash, like AIDS and Covid-19, turns into a war against ourselves.
***
On a lighter note...
The reunion series of "Friends," the popular sitcom that originally ran on NBC from 1994-2004, premiered on HBO Friday. News stories hyping this new release marveled that the chemistry that existed between the six primary cast members a quarter century ago seems to have translated into lifelong friendships.
Good serialized fiction works like a close friend to many of us almost as well as the homo sapiens variety. Pets can serve the same role, of course, and now scientists have been trying to perfect robots to play the part as well.
So as I was patting Betsy (the dog) and reading about the effort to deploy robots to combat the loneliness and isolation endured by elderly people, it occurred to me that perhaps this is one more lesson we can draw from the pandemic -- that old friendships with people or pets or robots or novels or even sitcoms not only endure over time but can get better.
Certain friendships just age well.
***
The headlines (there's a ton of news this cycle):
* Biden will unveil his first full budget on Friday, setting the stage for a pitched battle with Republicans opposed to his plans to spend trillions on infrastructure, childcare and other public works. (Reuters)
* The Sudden Rise of the Coronavirus Lab-Leak Theory (New Yorker)
* Biden Orders Intelligence Inquiry Into Origins of Virus. (NYT)
* The Biden administration announced that it has called on intelligence agencies to redouble their efforts to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in China as a way to prevent future pandemics. (AP)
* The Wuhan lab-leak theory is getting more attention. That’s because key evidence is still missing. (WP)
* Why A Lab In Wuhan Is Worth A Closer Look As A Possible Source Of The Pandemic (NPR)
* Who were the first coronavirus cases? China should help solve the mystery. (Editorial Board/WP)
* Gladys Sicknick -- the mother of U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick, who died after clashing with rioters during the Jan. 6 attack -- is asking Republican leaders for meetings to convince them to back a proposed commission to investigate the day's events. Senate GOP leaders today are likely to block a bipartisan measure to form the commission. [HuffPost]
* A new survey from the polling firm PRRI breaks down conspiracy theory acceptance by religious group, level of education, and sources of news and information, among other things. (NPR)
* A Wave of Afghan Surrenders to the Taliban Picks Up Speed -- Dozens of besieged outposts or bases, and four district centers, have given up to the insurgents this month, in an accelerating rural collapse as American troops leave. (NYT)
* Gov. Gavin Newsom of California condemned the “rinse and repeat” cycle of mass shootings in America after a gunman killed eight people at a rail yard in San Jose. (AP)
* Gun buying among Californians rose sharply last year. Before the pandemic, California was reporting about 100,000 background checks per month, but last March, that number rose to 164,000. (Sacramento Bee)
* Brazil’s Bid to Outsource Amazon Conservation Finds Few Takers -- Brazil is seeking to share the cost and burden of protecting the rain forest with the private sector. But it has found few firms willing to help. (NYT)
* U.S. weekly jobless claims drop to fresh 14-month low; economic recovery gaining speed (Reuters)
* Biden’s budget assumes that his proposed capital-gains tax rate increase took effect in late April, meaning it would be too late for high-income investors to realize gains at the lower tax rates if Congress agrees. (WSJ)
* Three major disability rights groups in Georgia have joined the broadening coalition of people suing the state over its Republican-sponsored voter suppression law that severely restricts access to voting. “The change in the voting law creates new barriers for everyone but those barriers could be insurmountable for people who experience disabilities," said Devon Orland, legal director of the Georgia Advocacy Office. [HuffPost]
* Deep-rooted racism, discrimination permeate U.S. military (AP)
* We need to put science at the center of the UFO question. (WP)
* The top U.N. human rights body on Thursday passed a resolution aimed to intensify scrutiny of Israel's treatment of Palestinians, after the U.N. rights chief said Israeli forces may have committed war crimes and faulted the militant group Hamas for violations of international law in their 11-day war this month. (AP)
* Multiple organizations are filing a lawsuit that seeks to overturn a West Virginia law that bans transgender girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s school sports. "Trans kids deserve better," said Betty Pepper-Jackson, an 11-year-old girl who is prohibited from joining a school team because she is trans. [HuffPost]
* A physician representing a Japanese medical body warned Thursday that holding the postponed Tokyo Olympics in two months could lead to the spread of variants of the coronavirus. (AP)
* U.S. scientists expand efforts to determine when booster shots will be needed (WP)
* The Texas Grid Came Close to an Even Bigger Disaster During February Freeze --Many “black start” units, which are used to jolt failed electricity systems, weren’t working properly. The emergency system’s spotty performance could have left Texans without power for much longer than a few days. (WSJ)
* First-ever Colorado River water shortage is now almost certain, new projections show (CNN)
* As the drought intensifies, the federal government announced that water allocations to cities and farms were being reduced. (Fresno Bee)
* There’s a 40% chance that the world will get so hot in the next five years that it will temporarily push past the temperature limit the Paris climate agreement is trying to prevent, meteorologists said. (AP)
* A mountain lion broke a window and prowled around inside a home in the Bay Area city of San Bruno. The homeowner ended up scaring the animal away. (San Francisco Chronicle)
* Climate Activists Defeat Exxon in Push for Clean Energy -- Shareholders elected at least two of the four directors nominated by a coalition of investors that said the oil giant was not investing enough in cleaner energy. (NYT)
* Three of the world’s largest oil companies face a reckoning over climate change as shareholder revolts and a landmark court ruling added new pressure to slash emissions. [HuffPost]
* President Biden plans to announce that he is nominating Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles to be his ambassador to India, turning to a longtime political ally for a high-profile diplomatic posting. (California Today)
* All the things Apple won’t let you do with your iPhone (WP)
* K-Pop Group BTS And McDonald's Launch Exclusive Meal And Clothing Line -- The meal includes Chicken McNuggets, a medium order of french fries, a medium Coke and two new sauces inspired by McDonald's South Korea. (NPR)
* Kevin Clark, preteen drummer in "School Of Rock," dead at 32, was hit by car when biking. (HuffPost)
* An umpire asked a Cardinals pitcher to take off his hat. It led to a dust-up over what a manager called ‘baseball’s dirty little secret.’ (WP)
* Tensions remain high between Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers fans after the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme in 2017. A fight between fans broke out on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston. (KPRC)
* The best, most emotional and weirdest moments of the ‘Friends’ reunion -- As the producers explain, that was the point of “Friends” all along. Co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane pitched it as a sitcom about the years in your 20s when your friends are your family, but with story lines that could relate to anyone. And part of the reason for “Friends'” dominance is that the chemistry among the six stars wasn’t just on the show — their actual fondness for one another came through on the screen and has continued for all these years. Their dynamic feels similar to real-life friends that you haven’t seen in far too long: When you get together, it’s like no time has passed. (WP)
* Coronavirus Variant Excited To Compete With World’s Top Mutations In Tokyo This Summer (The Onion)
***
"Morningside"
By John Gorka
I'm I a fool at this late date
To heed a voice that says,
You can be great
I heard it young, now I hear it again
It says, you can be better than you've ever been
Don't want to waste what I have to give
In all of the time that I've left to live
Don't want to waste what I have to give
In any of the time that I've got left
I can do more than I thought I could
Work brings more luck than knocking on wood
There's random bad and random good
Work brings more good luck
You ask the world
And the world says, no
It's the world's refrain
Mine says, go
You ask the world
And the world says, no
It's an old world refrain
Mine says, go
Don't want to waste what I have to give
In all of the time that I've left to live
Don't want to waste what I have to give
In any of the time that I've got left
I can do more than I thought I could
Work brings more luck than knocking on wood
There's random bad and random good
Work brings more good luck
Better be off
I've got dreams to dream
Though it seems uphill and a little extreme
If I can find hope in this fading light
Then I'll find you on the morningside
(Thanks to Roger Toennis for today's lyrics.)
-30-
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