Topic: Coronavirus outbreak

@status-204 Of course, that is possible, I am very well aware of that. RNA recombination is widely used in research to treat various diseases. However; the current SARS-CoV-2 virus is not the product of mere RNA recombination. The envelope of the current coronavirus contains novel S-proteins; the very reason why vaccine development takes so long. Additionally, it's genome is also unique, and both show signs of natural selection and can therefore not be the product of RNA recombination (i.e. synthesised). Like I said, we don't have the technology to create a virus like the current coronavirus.

If it was man-made, it would've shown signs of it, and it doesn't. It lines up with what you would expect a natural virus to look like.

@Octane People STILL believe this was man-made? (shakes head)

#sillyconspiracytheories

@status-204 That link of yours doesn't work, because of the username with an @ sign in it, which apparently confuses the script used on Nintendo Life into thinking that you're tagging a Nintendo Life member, instead of posting a URL.

So, for those interested in the article, I posted its comments page, which doesn't have this problem, and the link to the article itself is on top of the page, so it's still accessible in that way:
https://medium.com/p/f96dd7413748/responses/show

EDIT:
Pretty important disclaimer at the top of the article page:

"Anyone can publish on Medium per our Policies, but we don’t fact-check every story. For more info about the coronavirus, see cdc.gov."

@status-204 I am not a virologist, and although I try to keep up with the scientific research, I don't know everything. However, I don't mind doing a little literature research.

https://www.virology.ws/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screenshot... [3]
https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S016635422030052... [1]

The FURIN-like cleavage site is a short peptide in the S-protein of SARS-CoV-2. Whilst the closest known relative doesn't share this site, this is not remarkable in any way. Other human coronaviruses have similar FURIN-like cleavage sites as well. As this virology blog (quote below) states; its origin is most likely the cause of recombination between viruses. This is something that happens frequently and it is therefore not a surprise to find this specific cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2. Simply put, without the recombination from other viruses, the current coronavirus would probably have been a lot less effective, because the acquisition of a S1/S2 multibasic cleavage site seems to be greatly beneficial when it comes to the virulence.

''An interesting question is the origin of the furin cleavage site it SARS-CoV-2. Its closest relative, the bat isolate RaTG13, does not have this site. Nor do any of the other bat SARS-like CoVs or the pangolin CoVs that have been isolated. However recently a newly isolated bat SARS-like CoV, RmYN02, was shown to contain a poly basic amino acid insertion in the spike glycoprotein. This observation supports the hypothesis that the furin cleavage site in SARS-CoV-2 arose by recombination among bat viruses in nature.''[3]

I personally don't see what you're trying to say.

[1] The spike glycoprotein of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV contains a furin-like cleavage site absent in CoV of the same clade: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220...
[2] A Multibasic Cleavage Site in the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 Is Essential for Infection of Human Lung Cells: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32362314
[3] https://www.virology.ws/2020/05/14/sars-cov-2-furin-cleavage-...

Weighing in on the above topic: There are people who really believe in the conspiracy theories. It pains me to say my mother and aunt are among that number. They are more inclined to believe one random "nurse" on the web saying people are being killed deliberately than to believe what experts around the world are saying. They totally buy into this idea that there is some group behind the scenes manipulating everyone and this virus is just "the latest attempt" to bring about a one world government and bring about the rise of the anti-Christ like is talked about in the book of revelations.

These groups constantly label scientists, professors, universities, labs, anything with hard data or actual intelligence to be the enemy. All part of some grand scheme. And they are bombarded with these ideas so constantly that they actually start to believe them even with no data, no evidence to back it up. You just get some random 4chan blogger or a YouTube video made be someone, somewhere, with no other context and they will treat it as fact and everything else as fiction.

I just don't know how to deal with these people. It's made me dread talking to my mother anymore. As she seems to think it's, at the very least, being used as an excuse to and I quote "the worst thing is the way this is tearing people apart".

Personally I think the worst thing is the people who have been killed by the virus, followed by the people who have lost their livelihoods. I don't see how people can be torn apart as we were never united to begin with. Further more, people uniting seems to be what the conspiracy theorists most want to oppose. They go on and on about the globalists, one world government, destruction of individual cultures/nationalities, etc etc. and then are upset that the virus is "tearing people apart"?

I don't know how to deal with that mindset at all.

On a different note from what I have been reading, things do seem like they are somewhat starting to get better. It could just be temporary for summer or a sign that what most countries (America and Russia excluded) have been doing, is working. I don't know. But the numbers do seem like they have been getting somewhat better.

And speaking of numbers, does anyone else find it odd that Russia has reported so many cases but so few deaths?

Those folks have always existed. They're snake oil customers. Charmed by the likes of charismatic Mr. Wimple clones. Couple that with the sad facts that folks always want to 'be in the know', and the ease of information sharing access of the past two decades; now everyone just noticed the far-outs more. They were always talkin.

@HobbitGamer I know people like that have always been around but I feel like they are a lot more prevalent and common because of that ease of sharing information these days. Further I think that because certain national leadership and the media not only tolerate them, but encourage it or even add to it, it's become almost mainstream. And I feel like the people who should call it out and denounce it don't because they're too scared of being called rude. Somehow, somewhere, saying "2+2 =/= 5" became rude.

When faced with these kind of people, I just don't know how to speak to them. In my conversation with my mother I was explaining why the pandemic frightens me, why I think we need to take it seriously and providing sources and links for the various information, the CDC, various universities and the WHO and she counters with some random person on a YouTube video. She says the numbers are fudged and misleading on purpose and I ask her where she heard that and why people would do it, she wont answer.

It's not that I trust these sources without question, it's that I can't find a rational answer to why and how so many people would be faking it. People suggest the whole world is against the US and everyone is cooperate and faking this pandemic for the already mentioned crazy one world government, rise of the anti-Christ stuff. I look for inconsistencies and I try to think about things as rationally as I can. And when I think someone might be lying I try to think "why would they lie, what would it gain them and is it feasible that it could work?"

It's all my aunt's fault. I love them both but as they've gotten older they've just gone down the rabbit hole further and further and it's reaching a point that I just don't know how to interact with them. My aunt claims everything she says is based on the bible and thus the word of God, so there is literally no reasoning with her... Even insofar as question her interpretation of the Bible. You can't even ask "are you really sure that explanation is what he meant in that particular verse?" I mentioned it a while back that she argues that humans are incapable of good and we should not be grateful for the actions of men, ever, under any circumstance. I tried to suggest that God could be working through these people, and she wont even consider that. It's like talking to a wall. And my mother listens to her almost without question. With me valuing science alongside my faith, this has driven a wall between us.

Sorry this got so personal...

@Heavyarms55 No need to apologize, I get what you're saying. I'm a Catholic in the south, so I know how rigid others can be in their beliefs when they feel unease or are asked simple questions
Anyway, I don't really have any advice. I just don't even engage on levels of pure disbelief like that. There isn't sound reasoning being used, so I'm not gonna waste my own energy on it. I know my opinions are, I know how to use critical think and look for information myself.

@HobbitGamer I wish I were still able to do that. When it wasn't issues that were actively endangering my family and friends I just ignored it. But part of me thinks maybe that's the problem, if I had had that discussion with them at an earlier point, perhaps then it would have made a difference. Now it simply feels too late.

Of course dwelling on "what if" never helps anyone of course...

all my neighbors keep leaving.
everyday in the same manner.
in and out, in and out, in and out.
1:30 am they come back, leave again at 2:30 am.
yall dont have jobs, what the hell are you doing?
its really annoying to see so many people refusing to take this matter seriously.

@ogo79 So they are only home for an hour? Or they are only gone for an hour?

I mean, going out for a late night walk is a lot better than marching around Lansing Michigan with AR-15s and confederate flags and calling yourself a patriot because you can't stand to stay home...

@Heavyarms55 While I don't agree with the armed marches (because that's just being a bully), and really don't understand the Confederate flag (because Michigan was a strong Union state), I can understand some people's frustrations there. They can't even mow their lawns, they're restricted to what they can buy in stores that are open; They can't buy seeds to grow in a garden. People that own businesses are probably mad that they can't open and only have a few people at a time, yet it's open season at the grocery stores, gas stations, and home improvement stores. I think folks in Michigan are starting to feel as if control is more prevalent than reason. But I'm not there, so I don't really know.

@HobbitGamer I'm not there myself either, but I'm from there, and I can tell you there's a lot of openly racist folk who wish that Michigan had been a confederate state. People used to hang only that flag in front of their house, rather than the American flag, and still call themselves "patriots".

I don't really have sympathy for the folks complaining about gardening seeds or hair cuts while thousands are dead or dying and hundreds of thousands sick with a highly contagious disease.

But I do understand the more valid issues about economics. The economy is suffering badly and many people simply can't pay their bills anymore and the government is, on one hand, ordering them to stay home, and on the other hand, refusing to do more than hand out breadcrumbs to help actual people, after giving a gargantuan handout to big business. And members of the government, especially certain prominent senators are making comments about how they'll increase unemployment benefits over their dead body and saying that stupid lie about people who apparently would happily lose their job and go on unemployment because they are just lazy and don't want to work. Without ever citing any examples of such people beyond a handpicked single case here or there...

And for the protests, there's just such a massive dissonance I don't understand. I thought people would be protesting - protesting a government that failed them and let 92k people die and 1.6 million people get sick with a virus they knew was coming nearly 6 months ago. But hey, for these people it's not their family or their friends so they don't care. If anything, this pandemic has shown me that my standing opinion on basic human empathy was wrong, I had a low opinion of people before this pandemic but my opinion was still that, if a massive catastrophe happened that affected anyone regards or age, race or wealth, that people would have basic empathy for each other. But I was wrong, not even a disaster like this is enough for people to care. It's not in their group so it's not their problem.

And for the gun thing, I respect the right to own weapons is legally established in the US but frankly I don't see it as a peaceful protest. There's a very clear and obviously implied threat in showing up armed like that, a statement of "you're gonna listen to us, or we're gonna use these weapons".

@Heavyarms55 Trust me about the conspiracy nutters, they are everywhere. Every time I see my parents it's another story; coronavirus is made by the Russians, or the Americans, or the Chinese, it's this, or that. Well, my mom doesn't care, but my dad has always these ''theories'' he heard somewhere. Though I'm certain that if I ask my mom about 5G she'll say something along the lines of; ''well, it can't be good for you all that radiation'', and then some nonsense how they didn't have mobile phones and the internet and how everything was much better when they were young

Everything was much better when they were young. Because......... they were young.

I distinctly remember those times! Nope, they definitely weren't better ....

@BruceCM Gaming life was a LOT better, though: no spoilers whatsoever, no crazy internet rumor mongers ruining E3 reveals and no endless fanboy disputes or whiners in comments sections...

Only the monthly gaming magazines, and the odd trailer or "E3 Special" DVD. FAR more surprises, and so in some ways, also FAR more excitement.

But gaming aside: in some ways, the world was actually also better where situations like these are concerned, especially in our grandparent's time: no disease would have traveled around the world this fast, if we didn't have a worldwide commercial airplane network. In post WW2 times, hardly anybody ever traveled by plane, except for the crazy rich or privileged, meaning that the disease might have very well stayed in China, or at most would have entered only the directly surrounding area, but not Western Europe or the United States.

The objectively best time to be alive in all of human history if you live in "the west", was probably the 1990s. Modern technology and science, no major geopolitical threats for the whole of the decade, and sky-high economic growth for most of the decade.

The best time to be alive in anywhere outside of "the west", is probably right now. Or last year before the virus. The median wealth increase in the rest of the world has been huge over the last 30 years, whereas it's been tiny in the west.

Everything was better when we were young. I bought a house and it was affordable.
Now I fear for the next generation or my children buying one.
Was born in the late 70s and children being born now need at least ten different vaccines and immunisation and follow ups before they are ready to go home.

Starting to get a bit nervous. My brother said that he thinks someone he works with has it. They apparently sent this person home when they came to work Friday as the thermometer had them at 103°F (they tried again & had them at 97°F, but sent them home for 2 weeks to be safe), and today he learned that they are now apparently sick in bed (with some difficulty breathing beforehand).

@Dezzy I wasn't looking at it with a "best economic time" perspective, but from the perspective of how we would not have been bothered with the disease all that much, if the world wouldn't have had become that much smaller, due to the many ways we can now quick travel around it. So, that would make post WW2 up until the early 60's the best times to be alive in, regardless of any economic troubles and so on.

I was only looking at the virus-related aspect of it.