Private channel session 1433
8 messages over 16m, 2021-05-25 – 2021-05-25.
A “conversation” here is an activity session — a run of messages with under 60 minutes of silence inside it. The channel had no native conversation boundaries.
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Couple of points. If this origins thing was some sort of game [it's not], we'd still be in the first half or the early innings.As has been said, it's a long game. USG, WHO etc. realize they are not going to get any cooperation from China onany type of lab leak investigation. USG (yesterday's WH brief} has said they can't lead an so-called "investigation." Investigate what is the question. Notebooks from Shi's lab, sick days of WIV personnel, freezer inventories ofmysterious samples? IMO World Health Assembly is not going to pass any resolution to have WHO investigate "lab leak" or alter the trajectory of WHO's current origins study.
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@Eddie Holmes yes - I'd turn over the emails to Tony F. Remind him to "follow the animals." TF needs to turn them over to the other Tony --- Blinken Sec of State who will pass them to the CIA and the China watchers. Hopefull TFtells TB to "follow the animals."
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Need to nail down the bit in the letter about the FCS - having the human viruses as examples is open to a comeback. The MERS one is cool though because it is a nearby RxxR motif in the right site but it is not a human virus
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The point is that it exists in nature in various coronaviruses in non-human animals. But seems to be important forH2H transmission.
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The Chinese absolutely positively 100% KNOW it did not come from any of their labs. But (as discussed in-channel], they are prefectly content to let Murdoch media rant and take the lead about a "lab leak." It distracts from having anyone discuss "gamey taste" and the multibillion dollar wildlife trade that they find highly embarrassing for whatever reason.
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@Andrew Rambaut Yes - spot-on!
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@Andrew Rambaut I think the presence in human CoVs probably talks more to the bias towards spillovers from viruses that already have the FCS rather than it evolving in humans
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Shi releases mine virus sequences. Hey no problem - the goalposts are highly mobile. [shared file(s): image.png]