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BringBackFergy

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    Multiple people shot at KC parade.

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    2 hours ago, nucci said:

    Just admit it's very easy to obtain guns in this country, legally or not.

    Here’s a thought. Although there’s a prevalence of guns (handguns, rifles etc) we are now put through a background check to purchase ammo. A firearm in the hands of a criminal is worthless without ammo. So at some point, these criminals will no longer be able to purchase ammo (if other states follow suit and restrict ammo purchases without a quick background check). Is there illegal ammo coming over the border? Probably. But steps could be taken to restrict ammo sales to those over 21 and those who pass a quick State Police “phone in” background check. 
     

    I started reloading my own rifle ammo because it’s relaxing and interesting to try different powder charges at different distances. I doubt any criminals will be reloading their own ammo…especially not .22 rimfire rounds. 

    • Thank you (+1) 1

    Another reason to fire McDermott

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Watkins90 said:

    This whole Chiefs dynasty falls on one man and one man only, in hindsight. 

    Sean McDermott

     

    He is the one who traded the pick to KC that they used to take Mahomes because he "hadn't had time to study the QB class" even though his owner wanted Mahomes. 

     

    I literally felt like he should have been fired last night for making us all endure this. If Mahomes comes to Buffalo in 2017, he never turns into the QB he did. 

    So why would we draft him? Maybe McDermott could sense your reservations back on Draft Night in 2017 and traded down.

    Scientists create mutated Covid strain in lab that has a 100% kill rate

    in Off the Wall

    Posted

    18 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

     

    It's always nice to do a little digging before one propegates fear mongering headlines, and while putting "create" mutant coronavirus isn't as bad as some, there are a lot of them out there.

     

     

    Yeah, I've been following this.  Here's the paper if anyone cares

    https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.01.03.574008v1.full

    Note that biorx server is NOT a peer reviewed journal.  They didn't invite other scientists to look at their study design or results and critique.  That matters.

     

    Bottom line up front: it appears real. there are legitimate and real concerns about this kind of work, but the result of this is likely not as alarming as headlines are making it sound.

     

    Snopes does a pretty good job dissecting it.  https://www.snopes.com/news/2024/01/18/chinese-mutant-covid-19/

     

    First, it's not Sars-CoV2 the virus that causes Covid, it's a pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V that's like a "cousin" of Sars-CoV2, isolated in 2017.

     

    Second, the virus mutated while being propagated in cell culture, this wasn't genetic engineering to cause gain of function.  As Snopes notes: "The virus mutated from its original isolate, but it is a bit unfair to claim that the scientists "created" the virus. Since coronaviruses (and viruses in general) are known to rapidly mutate their genetic instructions, it is unsurprising that the virus used in the study mutated from the time it was isolated. In the paper (and in prior research by the same group), the researchers note that this particular variant of GX_P2V contained the mutation because it had better adapted to the cell cultures in which it was grown."

    In simple terms, mutating is what RNA viruses do...they're slobs (technical talk: RNA viruses have a naturally lower fidelity of replication, so they incorporate 'mistakes' more often.  Mistakes that provide a competitive advantage to the virus = mutation) 

     

    Third, the genetic engineering took place in the mice, who were given gene to express the human receptor proteins Covid binds to and uses to enter cells (technically: hACE2). But of course, that's all the humanity they gave the mice; we don't know how that genetic change affects the murine immune system or how high lethality in hACE2 mice would translate to a human population, or even.....a larger number of mice because.........wait for it.....

     

    Fourth: we're talking FOUR mice.  They injected FOUR mice, and they all died.  "All died" is bad, but four is a damned small sample size.  I want to know what the mortality rate in these mice is, in their transgenic mouse facility, under normal conditions.  Lots of other questions.

     

    Last but not least, there's a fair amount of moral indignation in the scientific community over this whole line of research and its risks vs. potential learnings and possible benefits in the first place.  Rightfully so IMHO:

     

    If it would persuade China to for-real start treating wet markets like a problem and to crack down on the black-market trade in pangolins and pangolin parts, it might do some good.

     

    That's all I got for ya right now @BringBackFergy, hope it helps.  If anything unclear, ask.

    So, should the CDC start their own “response” research to look for a vax in the event this thing is unleashed? How do they do that if the virus is unique to China labs (i.e. we don’t have access to this new “super virus”)?

    Using timeouts

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    5 hours ago, 2003Contenders said:

    I think it serves also to provide reminders in late-game key situations, especially when you do have back-ups in there. Things like:

     

    "There are only 10 seconds left and they have no timeouts. Make a tackle in the field of play and the game is over!"

     

    This x100

    When these young 2nd stringers on defense are all amped up with 60 seconds left and you have the lead, you call them in and remind them “No pass interference…take your time getting off the pile, keep the play inbounds, etc”

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