I am watching Waco on Netflix. I recommend it. My view of the Branch Davidian tragedy in a nutshell: David Koresh was an evil man who broke the law and needed to be stopped. The government’s actions to stop him were breathtakingly over-the-top cowboy antics that resulted in many needless deaths , including dozens of innocent children. I suppose I like the Netflix drama because its “no good guys” approach to the subject is similar to my own. The initial ATF raid stands as perhaps the most colossal law enforcement blunder in the last 50 years. Before the raid, Koresh was never “holed up” in the compound, and ATF could have arrested him without incident (much less loss of life) Read More ›

Ventilators are a key treatment for Covid-19, and there has been a wave of interest concerning development of low-cost ventilators; especially with a projected Covid-19 wave in excess of 100 millions for Africa. Here, then, is the Israel developed AmboVent, one of something like 300 fast-track initiatives to develop such globally: Video: This is of course one of several designs pivoting on the nearly ubiquitous manual respirator bulb, as per a suggestion that has been on the table for some time. Now we see a [near-?] commercial product. Video on the suggestion: Their blurb: The AmboVent initiative is led, by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) 108 electronic depot in partnership with Magen David Adom (MDA) (Israel’s red cross). The R&D Read More ›

This is the lede from an April 23 article in Science News: I don’t understand this at all. The article purports to account for all deaths. Yet it states the death tolls only for “men” and “women.” The question that goes entirely unaddressed — much less answered — is how many deaths there have been among the other 57 genders? The trans- homo- bi- phobic editors of that journal must be called out and shamed for this callous inequity. It is a national tragedy that deaths among these groups are apparently not even being tracked, let alone analyzed. Sarcasm ends. Here is the headline from the article: So science tells us that gender in humans is binary and the biological Read More ›

H’mm, it just may be feasible to use actinic radiation as a respiratory tract antiviral: Screenshot: U/D: From cache, another screen shot: Notice, AYTU is restricting bandwidth to UVA, UVA 400 nm – 320 nm, which is less damaging to us than shorter wavelength UV bands. Interesting concept, at minimum, though how they would get it deeper into the lungs is another question. Let’s not forget, radiation therapy — using X-Rays — is still used to destroy cancer. I guess, another use- it- early solution, if it works. END U/D, PS: I found a Fox News mention:

Even the mouthpiece of the progressive movement (CNN) is waking up to a reality that was always glaringly obvious. In this story CNN reports on a new UN report: The world is facing multiple famines of “biblical proportions” in just a matter of months, the UN has said, warning that the coronavirus pandemic will push an additional 130 million people to the brink of starvation . . . “While dealing with a Covid-19 pandemic, we are also on the brink of a hunger pandemic,” David Beasley told the UN’s security council. “There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of Covid-19 than from the virus itself.” . . . When added to the 821 Read More ›

Thank you to the UD News Desk for this article in which Coyne is quoted as saying this: The error is taking what is possible and making people think that this is what’s common or probable. **klaxon horns sounding** IRONY ALERT: The entire Darwinian edifice rests on this very foundation. Nice of Jerry to let us all know that it is an impossible foundation upon which to build any theory.

This account of the report states: Preliminary results from New York’s first coronavirus antibody study show nearly 14 percent tested positive, meaning they had the virus at some point and recovered, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. That equates to 2.7 million infections statewide — more than 10 times the state’s confirmed cases. Cue the science deniers: Jim Thibodeau and Orthomyxo, you’re up. How are you going to dismiss this latest study in furtherance of your calls for hysteria and panic at the expense of dispassionate reason?