moment

The Dao Bums
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    1,898

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    14

Posts posted by moment

  1. Posted

    43 minutes ago, SongShuhang said:

    I think presuming guilty before proven guilty is straight wrong.

    This is no different than racism..

    You are racist to anyone who follows John Chang?
    Why project negativity on everyone who comes and mentions this name?

    As wise man say, deal with issues when they arrive..

    John Chang might have influenced millions people but not everyone becomes malicious or breaks the rules of the forum.

    Being mean and evil to everyone who mentions him in the first post, is racist nonetheless.

     

     

    No, absolutely not! Ralis is not a racist.  There is a history here about mopai that you probably need to be more aware of.

    • Like 2

  2. Posted

    5 minutes ago, ralis said:

     
    As far as I know newcomers haven’t been approved yet. 

     

    Chino joined 12 hours ago, whether approved or not, newcomers are interacting with us.

  3. Posted · Edited by moment

    1 hour ago, SongShuhang said:

     

    There is an Admin, he should be able to take care of all who break the rules here.kills

     

    One admin cannot do it all.  We need him do the heavy lifting when things get out of hand. As a community we need to be somewhat civilized on our own.  With the exception of going whacko ( which we all do now and then) 95%+ of us are good people trying to keep a viable strong community together.  Sure, there are a few evil, twisted, cultish pieces of shit here, with a certain degree of skills. That is why, you need to proceed with caution and learn the territory and the players involved.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

    53 minutes ago, SongShuhang said:

    Please stop fighting, especially in welcome threads. If people want to fight or challenge each other, it would be wise to make a special topic or threads or zone on forum for it, or just go into pm.

     

    People will never stop challenging each other here.  We are a boisterous family and I am fine with that.  We do need to be more mannerly about it though, and I believe we need to STOP using newcomer threads to do it in.

    • Like 1

  7. Posted

    On a road through a desert in Arizona, a preacher named Nathaniel Evans walked every day, preaching to the many people who roared past in their cars. “Repent, the End of the World is Near!” he yelled.

    One day, as he was walking, he came to a big lever in the middle of nowhere, just by the side of the road. It had a sign next to it that read, “Pull this to end the world”

    Nathaniel saw this as the perfect spot for him to preach, and soon many automobiles were parked nearby. All was well, until there were so many people, and so many cars, that the road was nearly blocked. Then a big 18-wheel rig came down the highway, and couldn’t stop in time. The driver had a choice: run over Nathaniel, or run over the Lever.

    As the driver later explained to the Highway Patrol, he had no choice. Pointing to the red smear on the road that used to be Nathaniel Evans, he said, “Better Nate than Lever.”

    • Like 2
    • Haha 1

  8. Posted · Edited by moment

    When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky.

    They're always 20 years behind everything.---Mark Twain
     

    When a mute prophet is predicting the end of the world,

    that's a sign of the end times.

     

    Everyone keeps making fun of me because I don’t know what the word “apocalypse” means

    Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s not the end of the world.

     

    Steps to success:

    1. Predict the end of the world.
    2. Write a book about it.
    3. Prophet?

     

    If I get drunk this Friday because I am bummed about the end of the world, am I getting sauced because of Mayan-aise?

    • Like 2
    • Haha 2

  10. Posted · Edited by moment

    There is alot of discussion here about which country did that or this pre-covid.  Yet, the thread is: nCov19 Development and Prevention Discussion Only.  I am very interested in current development and prevention.  I believe we all have a need for that!  Who was a bigger asshole pre-covid-19, maybe not so much. How many here, are contributing to a useful, current information pool, about a common enemy?

  11. Posted

    2 hours ago, GSmaster said:

     

    It is meaningless either way, but I chose to have fun and entertainment from idiots, I do carry discussions with people of skill and who show basic respect. This is my extremely 100% effective method of discerning between people. I am not going to have serious discussion with a good for nothing @moment who believes in quotes from facebook.

     

     

    Well I know this, and everyone who cannot tell, are lacking some basic skills.

     

    But dont worry there is nothing bad in not having some skills and abilities.

     

    I am thankful for Your disaproval.

    • Like 1

  12. Posted

    10 minutes ago, C T said:

     

    In some ways, the CCP is similar to Nature. Work in accordance with its principles, and one can attain all of what one desires. Exert your will upon it, and sooner or later, one comes to a dead end.

     

    No govt hands out free lunches, and the CCP is no exception. 

     

    At least they make clear and are more overt with the rules of engagement, and except for Tibet, have always been quick to render solutions to those who reach out for aid, without any threats nor arrogance in the negotiation processes, unlike the US. 

     

    Do you currently live in China?

  14. Posted

    A Polish scientist could be on the verge of a major breakthrough in the fight against coronavirus.

    Professor Marcin Drąg from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology and his team have cracked an enzyme which they say may be key to finding a cure.

    "This is the most important protein - among the many identified - that the companies looking for a super-fast diagnostic test are talking about", says Professor Marcin Drąg from the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, winner of the 2019 FNP Prize in the field of chemical and materials sciences.

    Professor Drąg told PAP: “If you compare the enzyme to a lock, we've got the key that opens it.”

    The enzyme that the team studied, SARS-CoV-2 protease, cuts the proteins present in this virus.

    According to Drąg: “This allows it to survive. Inhibiting the action of this enzyme immediately causes this virus to die.”

    He added: “If we developed a drug that would inhibit the activity of this enzyme, we would practically kill the coronavirus. This is known from the previous epidemic of coronavirus – SARS.”

    The enzyme was known about previously, but there were millions of possible combinations of 'keys' to it. The team from Wrocław say they have now “found the one key that matches this enzyme.”

    The breakthrough came after scientists at Lübeck University in Germany sent the enzyme to the Wrocław team in February.

    They found that there are virtually no such enzymes in humans, meaning that if drugs that target the enzyme are developed, they will harm the virus, but not the human.

    The publication with Professor Marcin Drąg's team's research results is still under review, but the researchers have already made their results available to scientists around the world for free. 'We have not patented this. The publication preprint is available online. This is a gift from my laboratory to anyone interested', the scientist notes. He adds that a few days after publication there is no shortage of interested parties. Teams from various parts of the world come forward with questions and cooperation proposals.

    Professor Drąb said: “What we have now published is some of the most important information you can have about this enzyme. It is its full substrate preference.”

    He added that the research shows which amino acids the enzyme can bind to in key positions. 'We can say whether they are large, small, hydrophobic or basic amino acids. We can also create a map of the most important place of this enzyme and even match to drugs that are already on the market,” he said.

    Chemists and companies can now use the results to create new bioactive compounds for the SARS-CoV2 virus, and develop diagnostic tests that would allow to determine whether someone has coronavirus faster.

    'We are currently targeting other proteins from this virus, not just proteases. The pace of work is amazing', says Professor Marcin DrÄ…g.

    Part of the success behind the quick research results was a new technology platform developed by Professor DrÄ…g enabling the production of biologically active compounds, in particular inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes.

    His Hybrid Combinatorial Substrate Library (HyCoSuL) which enables scientists to design and obtain highly active and selective chemical tools, uses a wide range of amino acids (which are not found in nature) to monitor the activity of proteolytic enzymes. 

    It can be used to develop new therapies, medicines and diagnostic methods. 

     

     

    • Like 4

  17. Posted · Edited by moment

     

    Come back Sean

    While you are gone

    Our things break down

    With no one to repair around

    projects undone our lair abounds

     

    While you are gone

    The simple freaks

    with sudden shrieks and eerie creaks

    attack our house causing large leaks

    come back Sean

    :lol::P:blush:

     

    I may be a lousy poet but, I sure have fun with it;)

    • Like 5

  19. Posted · Edited by moment

    19 hours ago, bax44 said:

     

    unfortunately, this isnt what usually happens. I hope it will. But, if history has shown us anything, is once more power is ceded to the government or womever they tend to keep it and in fact push it further if allowed. In this case, the populace has almost begged for it and just using 9/11 as an example, many of the things pushed through afterward never went away.

     

    In the UK some of the stuff they pushed through so quickly with pretty much no resistance and little awareness from the masses is pretty startling. also add in the fact that theyve crashed the economy and people will be desperate for relief. its like a perfect  storm, and It could be just the beginning.

     

     

    It is a delicate balance.  All we can do is try to influence others in the sublime way that lasts.  The world will be in severe need of balancing.  Who better than Bummers.  Sure, we have all different types here but, one thing I think MOST of us (some here actually support totalitarianism) can agree on is FREEDOM!  Pass it around!

    • Like 3

  22. Posted · Edited by moment

    Interview was 3-19-20

     

    LARRY BRILLIANT SAYS he doesn’t have a crystal ball. But 14 years ago, Brilliant, the epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox, spoke to a TED audience and described what the next pandemic would look like. At the time, it sounded almost too horrible to take seriously. “A billion people would get sick," he said. “As many as 165 million people would die. There would be a global recession and depression, and the cost to our economy of $1 to $3 trillion would be far worse for everyone than merely 100 million people dying, because so many more people would lose their jobs and their health care benefits, that the consequences are almost unthinkable.”

    Now the unthinkable is here, and Brilliant, the Chairman of the board of Ending Pandemics, is sharing expertise with those on the front lines. We are a long way from 100 million deaths due to the novel coronavirus, but it has turned our world upside down. Brilliant is trying not to say “I told you so” too often. But he did tell us so, not only in talks and writings, but as the senior technical advisor for the pandemic horror film Contagion, now a top streaming selection for the homebound. Besides working with the World Health Organization in the effort to end smallpox, Brilliant, who is now 75, has fought flu, polio, and blindness; once led Google’s nonprofit wing, Google.org; co-founded the conferencing system the Well; and has traveled with the Grateful Dead.

    We talked by phone on Tuesday. At the time, President Donald Trump’s response to the crisis had started to change from “no worries at all” to finally taking more significant steps to stem the pandemic. Brilliant lives in one of the six Bay Area counties where residents were ordered to shelter in place. When we began the conversation, he’d just gotten off the phone with someone he described as high government official, who asked Brilliant “How the fuck did we get here?” I wanted to hear how we’ll get out of here. The conversation has been edited and condensed.

     

    Steven Levy: I was in the room in 2006 when you gave that TED talk. Your wish was “Help Me Stop Pandemics.” You didn't get your wish, did you?

    Larry Brilliant: No, I didn't get that wish at all, although the systems that I asked for have certainly been created and are being used. It's very funny because we did a movie, Contagion—"

     

    Stephen Levy: "We're all watching that movie now."

     

    Larry Brilliant: "People say Contagion is prescient. We just saw the science. The whole epidemiological community has been warning everybody for the past 10 or 15 years that it wasn't a question of whether we were going to have a pandemic like this. It was simply when. It's really hard to get people to listen. I mean, Trump pushed out the admiral on the National Security Council, who was the only person at that level who's responsible for pandemic defense. With him went his entire downline of employees and staff and relationships. And then Trump removed the [early warning] funding for countries around the world".

     

    Stephen Levy: "I've heard you talk about the significance that this is a “novel” virus."

     

    Larry Brilliant: "It doesn't mean a fictitious virus. It’s not like a novel or a novella".

     

    Levy:  "Too bad."

     

    Brilliant:  "It means it's new. That there is no human being in the world that has immunity as a result of having had it before. That means it’s capable of infecting 7.8 billion of our brothers and sisters."

     

    Levy: "Since it's novel, we’re still learning about it. Do you believe that if someone gets it and recovers, that person thereafter has immunity?"

     

    Brilliant: "So I don't see anything in this virus, even though it's novel, [that contradicts that]. There are cases where people think that they've gotten it again, [but] that's more likely to be a test failure than it is an actual reinfection. But there's going to be tens of millions of us or hundreds of millions of us or more who will get this virus before it's all over, and with large numbers like that, almost anything where you ask “Does this happen?” can happen. That doesn't mean that it is of public health or epidemiological importance."

     

    Levy: "Is this the worst outbreak you’ve ever seen?"

     

    Brilliant: "It's the most dangerous pandemic in our lifetime."

     

    Levy: "We are being asked to do things, certainly, that never happened in my lifetime—stay in the house, stay 6 feet away from other people, don’t go to group gatherings. Are we getting the right advice?"

     

    Brilliant: "Well, as you reach me, I'm pretending that I'm in a meditation retreat, but I'm actually being semi-quarantined in Marin County. Yes, this is very good advice. But did we get good advice from the president of the United States for the first 12 weeks? No. All we got were lies. Saying it’s fake, by saying this is a Democratic hoax. There are still people today who believe that, to their detriment. Speaking as a public health person, this is the most irresponsible act of an elected official that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime. But what you're hearing now [to self-isolate, close schools, cancel events] is right. Is it going to protect us completely? Is it going to make the world safe forever? No. It's a great thing because we want to spread out the disease over time.

     

    "Flatten the curve. By slowing it down or flattening it, we're not going to decrease the total number of cases, we're going to postpone many cases, until we get a vaccine—which we will, because there's nothing in the virology that makes me frightened that we won’t get a vaccine in 12 to 18 months. Eventually, we will get to the epidemiologist gold ring.

    What’s that?That means, A, a large enough quantity of us have caught the disease and become immune. And B, we have a vaccine. The combination of A plus B is enough to create herd immunity, which is around 70 or 80 percent.I hold out hope that we get an antiviral for Covid-19 that is curative, but in addition is prophylactic. It's certainly unproven and it's certainly controversial, and certainly a lot of people are not going to agree with me. But I offer as evidence two papers in 2005, one in Nature and one in Science. They both did mathematical modeling with influenza, to see whether saturation with just Tamiflu of an area around a case of influenza could stop the outbreak. And in both cases, it worked. I also offer as evidence the fact that at one point we thought HIV/AIDS was incurable and a death sentence. Then, some wonderful scientists discovered antiviral drugs, and we've learned that some of those drugs can be given prior to exposure and prevent the disease. Because of the intense interest in getting [Covid-19] conquered, we will put the scientific clout and money and resources behind finding antivirals that have prophylactic or preventive characteristics that can be used in addition to [vaccines]."

     

    Levy: "When will we be able to leave the house and go back to work?"

     

    Brilliant: "I have a very good retrospect-oscope, but what's needed right now as a prospecto-scope. If this were a tennis match, I would say advantage virus right now. But there's really good news from South Korea—they had less than 100 cases today. China had more cases imported than it had from continuous transmission from Wuhan today. The Chinese model will be very hard for us to follow. We're not going to be locking people up in their apartments, boarding them up. But the South Korea model is one that we could follow. Unfortunately, it requires doing the proportionate number of tests that they did—they did well over a quarter of a million tests. In fact, by the time South Korea had done 200,000 tests, we had probably done less than 1,000."

     
    Levy: "Now that we've missed the opportunity for early testing, is it too late for testing to make a difference?"
     

    Brilliant: "Absolutely not. Tests would make a measurable difference. We should be doing a stochastic process random probability sample of the country to find out where the hell the virus really is. Because we don't know. Maybe Mississippi is reporting no cases because it's not looking. How would they know? Zimbabwe reports zero cases because they don't have testing capability, not because they don't have the virus. We need something that looks like a home pregnancy test, that you can do at home."

     

    Levy: "If you were the president for one day, what would you say in the daily briefing?"

     

    Brilliant: "I would begin the press conference by saying "Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Ron Klain—he was the Ebola czar [under President Barack Obama], and now I’ve called him back and made him Covid czar. Everything will be centralized under one person who has the respect of both the public health community and the political community." We're a divided country right now. Right now, Tony Fauci [head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] is the closest that we come to that."

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  24. Posted · Edited by moment

    Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

    - I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not too sure.

    - They told me I was gullible and I believed them.

    - I didn't use to finish sentences, but now I

     

                                 am

     

    - Out of my mind. Back in five minutes. :P

    • Haha 2