Slack / Private Message Drop — page 884

[Andrew Rambaut] ```The goal of Science's Insights section is to be the best place for scientists to talk to each other about science. So, given the importance of this issue and the breadth of expertise and outstanding qualifications of the authors, it was an easy decision to publish the Letter. The authors acknowledged that demanding transparency from China--while acknowledging the important role of Chinese researchers in tackling the virus--is a nuanced and important task given the discouraging rise of anti-Asian sentiment over the past 18 months.``` [2021-05-27 14:24:59] [Robert Garry] This actually makes no sense - if both arguments are "speculative," then why the hell did they publish the Bloomshit, which they just called speculative? [2021-05-27 14:26:16] [Robert Garry] Yeah - good point Andrew. [2021-05-27 14:30:44] [Robert Garry] And to be clear, the Bloomshit letter is speculating that Shi et al are involved in a massive conspiracy and cover-up. [2021-05-27 14:39:02] [Kristian Andersen] That's hilarious. From a journal called "Science". [2021-05-27 14:43:23] [Eddie Holmes] And some cover-up it would need to be. If they had 3 serious cases in the 2nd week of Nov then there would be 10s of less serious cases dating back into October. Lots is the must have known and obviously Shi. That's a lot of people to keep quiet, inc. all those their lab results are negative. [2021-05-27 14:46:39] [Robert Garry] After the big can of whoopass Amy M unloaded on them last night I think that the Science Editors are likely sitting in the corner licking their wounds. [2021-05-27 14:47:41] [Kristian Andersen] ... and one additional thing to that point that Joel brought up earlier today - if WIV really had three people who ended up in the hospital with COVID, a TON of people would have had to have gotten infected before that would statistically be plausible given hospitalization rates. [2021-05-27 14:49:24] [Eddie Holmes] Yes, that's my point as well. [2021-05-27 14:50:03] [Kristian Andersen] Well, of course it is - only read the first part :wink: [2021-05-27 14:52:54] [Eddie Holmes] Which also means that they started the cover-up long before this outbreak became serious [2021-05-27 15:02:06] [Eddie Holmes]