Archiving a conversation on X between Dr. Clare Craig and myself in September 2024 that I had forgotten about. The catalyst was my “late” response to a 7 April 2023 post by
Dr. Craig was one of 22 authors on a critique of the Corman-Drosten paper, published in late November 2020. My interest here relates to Dr. Craig’s view that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a lab. Correspondence between Dr. Craig and I earlier this year about virus origins is on this page:
@ClareCraigPath Yes, but it's not as much about the link as it is about the images that are posted to it. So either the images are messages that were sent in late December (as the images say), or they're not. Also, the Github link is an English translation of this: https://freewechat.com/a/MzAxMjMyMDk0Ng==/2650112053/1/1580318101 I am not vouching for the authenticity of the messages, whether they were actually sent at the end of December 2019, or (assuming they were sent then) that they weren't part of a staged effort. The connection I am making is between what @jengleruk observed the authors said in the Eurosurveillance paper, and the social media reports the authors could be referring to.
I emailed Dr. Drosten (corresponding author) directly on 2 Sept 2024 and asked what he and his colleagues were referring to but I have not received a response No matter what, it is unacceptable that the editors of the journal allowed the authors to refer to state "we relied on social media reporting announcing detection of a SARS-like virus" without citing the reporting on which they relied. So, if not the messages I linked to, which "social media reporting" was it and why in the world did those test developers rely on it? Is that "good science" - or is it more like "social [media] science"?
Hockett to Craig:
@ClareCraigPath Can we agree that this sounds like a computer lab endeavor - not anything involving a virus lab/virus lab leak?
I'm only sorry I didn't see JE's tweet a year+ ago when he posted it (or if I did, that I didn't quite take it in and realize the implications).
Is this how virology works? Where is the established casual link between these "viruses" and illness? Where is the proof of human to human transmission? How does this relate to the "seasonal trigger" idea?
My kids were harmed over this mess. I'm not letting this go anytime soon - and I'm sure you're not either.
"Before public release of virus sequences from cases of 2019-nCoV, we relied on social media reporting announcing detection of a SARS-like virus. We thus assumed that a SARS related CoV involved in the outbreak. We downloaded all complete and partial (if greater than 400 nt) SARS-related virus sequences available in GenBank by 1 January 2020.”
Craig to Hockett:
I think it was a virus lab leak.
The evidence for human manipulation is myriad.
It is evident in samples from all over the world.
Hockett to Craig:
A virus leak involving what mechanism(s)?
Craig to Hockett:
I can't tell you about the leak itself - but we have already agreed they happen a lot.
Viruses replicate and spread.
By autumn 2019 there was global evidence of its spread.
The fact that the global genomic sequences map back to a common ancestory in October 2020 is not something that can happen accidentally. I agree that there would be zero guarantee that a lab virus would take off in the population. In fact, evidence suggests most don't. It does not make for a workable James Bond style baddie plan. However, if there is an intent to amplify a problem then having a novel virus about to detect is a great way to convince the medical and scientific community that they need to address something. In its absence, you would struggle to get any buy in at all.
Funny enough, my edit of Matt Ridley's Hollywood story has your answer @ClareCraigPath
Seasonal shots are a problem. Always have been - but especially in the years leading up to Operation COVID.
There is a reason COVID shot criticism has been permitted and elevated since late 2022
It was intended as a decoy IMO - which is not to say it isn't harmful.
But it is imposssible to separate the impact of the covid shot from the impact of the flu shot (not to mention all the rest of the health harms at play)
Huge mess for data, and I think it's big mistake to assume ACM wasn't manipulated
But I digress...
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All articles related to the origin of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 can be accessed on this page:
