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Coronavirus

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Pffft. The next-most-senior technologist is still ten years my junior. If medical imaging was Lord of the Rings, I would be an Ent.

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That’s an ent-ertaining thought. Your junior is almost ent-ry level when compared to you. You have spent almost your ent-ire career there, right. Are you planning on making a grand ent-rance upon your return?
 
I’m ent-hralled by your ability to keep this going.
My ability to keep this line of banter alive ent-ails a combination of ent-repreneurial spirit and individualism ent-ombed within my pysche. It helps not to have an ent-ourage ent-angling my creativity by ent-icing me with some other distraction during this ent-erprise. thus leading to a thread where ent-ropy reigns.
 

This actually is not far off. I notice that in the economic numbers for the last quarter China had record exports of medical supplies and now we have a rising trade imbalance. Couple that with the intel on the news the other day that in reviewing satellite imagery of Wuhan there were considerably more vehicles at Wuhan hospitals in the Fall of 2019 when compared to previous years. That suggests that the coronavirus pandemic started much earlier than the Chinese have let on. Also of ominous note is that on a domestic newscast the head of China's CDC equivalent made the statement that the virus was present in China BEFORE being discovered in the wet market where it supposedly originated. So how convenient that the Wuhan virus pandemic starts right before a US election in which the sitting President has been calling "bullshit" on Chinese trade practices and has held their feet to the fire while enjoying a record US economy ? I am not a conspiracy theorist by any means but a country that can build a hospital in three days, just happening to have all the machinery and cement "on hand" to do that and has been less than forthcoming on information regarding the pandemic pushes my skepticism level right to the top of the scale.
 
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This actually is not far off. I notice that in the economic numbers for the last quarter China had record exports of medical supplies and now we have a rising trade imbalance. Couple that with the intel on the news the other day that in reviewing satellite imagery of Wuhan there were considerably more vehicles at Wuhan hospitals in the Fall of 2019 when compared to previous years. That suggests that the coronavirus pandemic started much earlier than the Chinese have let on. Also of ominous note is that on a domestic newscast the head of China's CDC equivalent made the statement that the virus was present in China BEFORE being discovered in the wet market where it supposedly originated. So how convenient that the Wuhan virus pandemic starts right before a US election in which the sitting President has been calling "bullshit" on Chinese trade practices and has held their feet to the fire while enjoying a record US economy ? I am not a conspiracy theorist by any means but a country that can build a hospital in three days, just happening to have all the machinery and cement "on hand" to do that and has been less than forthcoming on information regarding the pandemic pushes my skepticism level right to the top of the scale.
While I'm not 100% counting it out, I'd say that is a bit far fetched.

* A lot of medical production facilities are/were already outsourced to China. Corona has increased the demand, record exports of medical supplies are a logical result.
* Considerably more vehicles at hospitals etc, could indeed suggest that the Pandemic started earlier. Remains the question whether they actually realized it much earlier, and if so why and on what level information was delayed.
* Building a makeshift hospital in short order is not that crazy for a country like China. They have been building a lot of stuff in a very short time. Being able to centrally dictate that every company / person is to be conscripted for a certain project on government orders, helps too. Plus, if we are debating timelines, they might have started preparing earlier already.

* From what I have read is that scientists who can be in the know, state that we (humanity) can't create such viruses yet.

So, it would basically boil down to a massive scheme to infect the world with a virus hoping to catch the US off guard while hoping it would be a net positive for the Chinese economy in the long run?

I think that's quite unlikely. If it ever comes out, which wouldn't be that unlikely since the scheme would require quite a number of people involved, China will be spewn out by the rest of the world. It would hurt their economy much worse. Also, while the trade conflict wasn't something good for China I don't think things were that bad for them to implement such drastic risky measures.

Finally I think the 'party' takes calculated risks, which this wouldn't really be.

Where they very forthcoming with information? No. But I'd rather appoint that too the general posture of China and how they deal with internal things compared to oher possible explanations. If they were late and or incompetent, it will not be publicized by the international press. Honor is very important, or rather 'not to lose face'.

Just my views, and like I said I don't rule things out absolutely.

--
About Corona in general here in NL measures have relaxed and so far so good. New infections are low for a while new. The economy will take quite the hit, IC population peeked at almost maximum overcapacity. So, shit hit the fan and we weren't far from much worse. But it seemed the worst is behind us and some sort of normal life has resumed.

I will still be working from home, now that EU borders will open this month so I'm looking to take some holidays to south France soon. :)
 
While I'm not 100% counting it out, I'd say that is a bit far fetched.

* A lot of medical production facilities are/were already outsourced to China. Corona has increased the demand, record exports of medical supplies are a logical result.
* Considerably more vehicles at hospitals etc, could indeed suggest that the Pandemic started earlier. Remains the question whether they actually realized it much earlier, and if so why and on what level information was delayed.
* Building a makeshift hospital in short order is not that crazy for a country like China. They have been building a lot of stuff in a very short time. Being able to centrally dictate that every company / person is to be conscripted for a certain project on government orders, helps too. Plus, if we are debating timelines, they might have started preparing earlier already.

* From what I have read is that scientists who can be in the know, state that we (humanity) can't create such viruses yet.

So, it would basically boil down to a massive scheme to infect the world with a virus hoping to catch the US off guard while hoping it would be a net positive for the Chinese economy in the long run?

I think that's quite unlikely. If it ever comes out, which wouldn't be that unlikely since the scheme would require quite a number of people involved, China will be spewn out by the rest of the world. It would hurt their economy much worse. Also, while the trade conflict wasn't something good for China I don't think things were that bad for them to implement such drastic risky measures.

Finally I think the 'party' takes calculated risks, which this wouldn't really be.

Where they very forthcoming with information? No. But I'd rather appoint that too the general posture of China and how they deal with internal things compared to oher possible explanations. If they were late and or incompetent, it will not be publicized by the international press. Honor is very important, or rather 'not to lose face'.

Just my views, and like I said I don't rule things out absolutely.

--
About Corona in general here in NL measures have relaxed and so far so good. New infections are low for a while new. The economy will take quite the hit, IC population peeked at almost maximum overcapacity. So, shit hit the fan and we weren't far from much worse. But it seemed the worst is behind us and some sort of normal life has resumed.

I will still be working from home, now that EU borders will open this month so I'm looking to take some holidays to south France soon. :)
Hmmm, I am not sold on the calculated risk argument. It is been reported that the government locked down Wuhan Province
while allowing people to leave China for destinations outside the country. Instead of being the good guy and protecting the world population they shared the virus. Who gains from that, especially when you are the worlds largest medical supplier. Coincidence or calculated risk? Doesn't Sun Tzu talk about defeating an enemy using indirect means? Even if you don’t have the capacity to manufacture a virus that doesn't Mean you can’t exploit it. Nation states exploit situations everyday. I know I sound pessimistic but nation states are not known for their altruism towards a potential adversary. Trust me the US is not immune to this type of behavior either.
 
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