BBC: Coronavirus: US to halt funding to WHO, says Trump
US President Donald Trump has said he is going to halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) because it has "failed in its basic duty" in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
[...] Mr Trump has been under fire for his own handling of the pandemic.
He has sought to deflect persistent criticism that he acted too slowly to stop the virus's spread by pointing to his decision in late January to place restrictions on travel from China.
[...] The US is the global health body's largest single funder and gave it more than $400m in 2019.
A decision on whether the US resumes funding will be made after the review, which Mr Trump said would last 60 to 90 days.
[...] China gave about $86m in 2018-19; UK gives most of any country apart from the US
[...] The organisation launched an appeal in March for $675m to help fight the pandemic and is reported to be planning a fresh appeal for at least $1bn.
Reuters: Trump halts World Health Organization funding amid coronavirus pandemic
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would halt funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic while his administration reviews its response to the global crisis.
Trump told a White House news conference the WHO had “failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable.” He said the group had promoted China’s “disinformation” about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred.
[...] The hold on funding was expected. Trump has been increasingly critical of the organization as the global health crisis has continued, and he has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration’s response.
[...] U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday it was “not the time” to reduce resources for the body.
“Now is the time for unity and for the international community to work together in solidarity to stop this virus and its shattering consequences,” he said.
American Medical Association President Dr. Patrice Harris called it “a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating COVID-19 easier” and urged Trump to reconsider.
[...] The Republican president recently accused the WHO of being too lenient with China in the earliest days of the crisis, despite having himself praised China in January for its response and transparency.
Trump has made frequent use of scapegoats during his short political career. He often lashes out at the media, Democrats, or others when he feels attacked or under pressure.
The Guardian: Trump turns against WHO to mask his own stark failings on Covid-19 crisis
Donald Trump’s declared suspension of funding of the World Health Organisation in the midst of a pandemic is confirmation – if any were needed – that he is in search of scapegoats for his administration’s much delayed and chaotic response to the crisis.
The US is the WHO’s biggest donor, with funding over $400m a year in both assessed contributions (membership fees) and donations – though it is actually $200m in arrears. [pdf]
Theoretically the White House cannot block funding of international institutions mandated by Congress. But the administration has found ways around such constitutional hurdles on other issues – by simply failing to disburse funds or apply sanctions, for example.
The funding could be formally rescinded, but that would require Senate approval, or “reprogrammed” by being diverted to another purpose that the White House could argue is consistent with the will of Congress.
[...] The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had to fly to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping on 29 January to negotiate entry and information sharing. A WHO team was allowed to visit Wuhan on 22 February. Tedros has been criticised for his flattery of Xi and the Chinese response, in the face of Beijing’s obstructionism and cover-up attempts. His defenders said that such diplomacy was the price for entry.
Trump did more than his own fair share of Xi flattery. On 24 January, the president tweeted “China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus … The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency.”
The claim that the delay in the WHO acquiring samples crippled the international response is also false. Chinese scientists publicly released the genetic sequence of Covid-19 on 11 January.
[...] By early February the WHO was in a position to distribute a Covid-19 test worldwide, but the US government opted not to have it fast-tracked through approval. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instead produced its own test at about the same time, but it was flawed and had to be recalled. US testing would be set back more than six weeks compared to the rest of the world.
While virtually no testing was under way in the US throughout February, Trump assumed the consequently low number of confirmed US cases meant that his country had somehow escaped. “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA,” he boasted on 24 February, nearly a month after the WHO declaration of emergency. “We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health [Organisation] have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!”
Related Stories
USA Today reports Trump has Officially Begun to Withdraw the US From the World Health Organization as Pandemic Spikes:
The Trump administration has officially begun to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the globe and infections spike in many states across the U.S.
Congress received formal notification of the decision on Tuesday, more than a month after President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the U.S. relationship with the WHO and blasted the multilateral institution as a tool of China. The White House said the withdrawal would take effect on July 6, 2021.
[...] The formal withdrawal comes as the United States nears 3 million reported coronavirus cases and more than 130,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been 11.6 million cases and almost 540,000 deaths.
Additional Coverage:
Trump administration moves to formally withdraw US from WHO
Trump administration begins formal withdrawal from World Health Organization
Trump Begins Process Of U.S. Withdrawal From World Health Organization
Previously:
(2020-05-20) Trump Threatens to Take US Out of WHO Entirely and Stop All US Funding
(2020-04-15) Trump to Halt Funding to WHO
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:26PM (59 children)
Trump’s critique of WHO may be a diversion, but it resonates beyond the White House [washingtonpost.com]
The WHO and China: Dereliction of Duty [cfr.org]
How WHO Became China’s Coronavirus Accomplice [foreignpolicy.com]
How China Deceived the WHO [theatlantic.com]
China defends the WHO after Trump — and others — say it is deferring to Beijing [cnbc.com]
The WHO made mistakes, but it's China that must be held accountable [thehill.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:29PM (53 children)
Blaming the WHO and China Is Not Scapegoating [politico.com]
China didn’t warn public of likely pandemic for a pivotal 6 days, AP report shows [usatoday.com]
Timeline: The early days of China's coronavirus outbreak and cover-up [axios.com]
Free bonus: China’s top official in Hong Kong pushes for national security law [theguardian.com]
Nnevvy: Chinese troll campaign on Twitter exposes a potentially dangerous disconnect with the wider world [cnn.com]
France summons Chinese envoy after coronavirus 'slur' [theguardian.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:57PM (42 children)
Yes, the W.H.O should have deployed their shock troops to force the authoritarian nation of China to tell the truth.
Meanwhile, the W.H.O was warning us about this virus while Trump was still calling it a hoax.
(Score: 2, Informative) by hemocyanin on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:08PM (21 children)
Are you joking?
https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fworld%2Fworld-health-organization-january-tweet-china-human-transmission-coronavirus [twitter.com]
When WHO was writing killer (literally) tweets, even the Chinese sources it based that claim on added some CYA about preliminary info. Not WHO though. While WHO doesn't have shock troops and can't force China to do anything at all -- one would expect it to act slightly more responsibly than as a pro-China propagandist. I mean seriously, WHO would make big-tobacco funded researchers of the 60s blush and look away in embarrassment.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:16PM (16 children)
They reported that there was no clear evidence back when there was no clear evidence.
Once they found clear evidence, they reported it.
If there was all this clear evidence back in January why don't you provide a citation of it.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:39PM (15 children)
Except there was clear evidence: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-didn-t-warn-public-of-likely-pandemic-for-6-key-days/ar-BB12DU9q?ocid=bingcoronaviruslinks [msn.com]
(Score: 2, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:24PM (14 children)
That's evidence that China lied to WHO which was my entire point.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by slinches on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:36PM (11 children)
What good is an organization that just parrots lies without verification from a country with a history of providing false info for their own benefit?
(Score: 3, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:47PM (9 children)
Saying they had no evidence when they had no evidence (because China was hiding it) is not a lie.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:28PM (8 children)
You are being intentionally obtuse. Take these two statements:
1) [RANDO] The virus is a hoax.
2) [EXPERT] There is no evidence to support person to person transmission.
#1 is clear but not likely given much weight because of a lack of credibility. In contrast, #2 has built into it a whole slew of assumptions enhancing credibility and very clearly implies that COVID-19 just isn't that big a deal. Kind of like how astrophysicist might say: "there is no evidence to support a flat earth hypothesis, we're scientists, this is our specialty, we know our shit." Most people are going to take that at face value because of the pedigree of the speaker. Apparently though, when WHO says something, we must treat their pronouncements with the same skepticism we'd treat anything Alex Jones says. This is an important realization because if WHO is the Alex Jones of public health, what the fuck are we doing paying them?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @12:14AM (7 children)
You're just desparate to give Trump a scapegoat. Care to discuss the verified lies Trump told that went counter to all the intelligence and recommendations from our own agencies and the WHO?
Not gonna hold my breath waiting for a reply :|
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:30AM (6 children)
I don't care about Trump. Didn't vote for him, will be voting 3d party yet again in all likelihood. What galls me is the level of self-righteousness his opponents engage in when those opponents are either no better or worse. It galls me that people call him a fascist and yet Obama created the practice of due process free execution of American citizens based on the content of youtube vids (speech), but gets treated like Jesus 2.0 instead of a war criminal. It particularly galls me that the media is so glaringly partisan. It might gall me enough to vote Trump out of spite, but time will tell on that count. It infuriates me that the best the DNC can do (aside from trying reignite the cold war with a nuclear power), after three fucking years, is come up with nothing but a creepy dementia patient as "opposition".
Trump could have been way better on this CV19 thing. He wasn't and that's really sad. But lets put him in context with Biden or Pelosi or DeBlasio or Cuomo -- it makes me livid. And then you have the press -- CNN headline [msn.com] today: "Prominent scientist have bad news for the White House about coronavirus antibody tests" -- you fucking partisan self-satisfied douche, it's bad news for Americans. The difficulty in creating a test isn't something to jump for joy about because you get a stupid fucking snipe point, but that's the level of Democrats today. Total fucking cunts.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:09AM (5 children)
Yes, it is bad news for Americans, but in the context of the article, it is bad news for the White House because they're the ones who keep telling the lies that "millions" of people have been tested and that "anyone who wants a test can get one" and that "these tests have really been ramping up" all the time. Nobody is jumping for joy. They are doing a service to self-ignorant dumbfucks like you by pointing out how absolutely shitty the situation has been, and how there has been absolutely no fucking leadership from the top.
"I'm not responsible for anything"
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:29PM (4 children)
Yeah, it's a shame all them folks dying cause they couldn't get cured by a test. Oh, wait...
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2020, @12:49AM (3 children)
the fuck is wrong with you???
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday April 17 2020, @03:36AM (2 children)
According to all the progtards on their Listen and Believe campaign about testing? That I can tell the difference between a test and a cure.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2020, @05:15AM (1 child)
Ah, you are mixing politics with science. Think I found your problem, but there is no cure for someone like you. One day you'll figure out that the cure was inside you all along!!!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday April 17 2020, @12:56PM
Nope. I'm pointing out that progtards are harping on testing as if it were a cure. The movers and shakers are doing it because they think it will hurt Trump. The rank and file are doing it because they're fucking idiot sheep. The folks with TDS are doing it because they'll jump on anything anti-Trump; hell, they'd call for puppy genocide if he said he liked dogs.
Testing don't solve shit unless it can be done to everyone on demand with a minimum of twice a day being necessary to make a difference. What it does do and is useful for is it lets medical folks gather data after the fact.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:32PM
Works for Trump.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:37PM (1 child)
So what you are saying is that WHO is a mere conduit for Chinese propaganda and not an agency with any ability to do research or ask hard questions. Tell you what, I'll be China's stenographer for a mere $1 million per year. We can use the other $500-800 million to do useful things. Fair?
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:38PM
Any organization composed of unelected Jewish managers, like the UN or the WHO, will gladly take money to espouse any talking point. But number one rule of the Jew organizations is to have a Black fall-guy so you're not racist, or something, if things go horribly wrong. That's why Obama was elected, after all.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday April 16 2020, @03:42AM (3 children)
You quoting Fox News. Why not quote something more reliable, like Russia Today, or PressTV?
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:31PM
It links to the tweet, via fox. It was how I found a clickable link fast but didn't notice all the redirects when I pasted it in to my reply. Anyway, there's no editorialising around the actual tweet -- it's just the tweet. For all you who won't look at a WHO tweet via a Fox link, here's the direct route to the _exact_same_ place:
https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1217043229427761152 [twitter.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:36PM (1 child)
Who is more reliable than Fox News?
I'll wait.
I don't give any of those any time anymore. It's all lies and narrative and useless fear/anger/hate-porn.
Occasionally The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald's project, publishes interesting investigations. Wikileaks publishes raw data the rich and powerful don't want anyone to see. Stratfor is solid and worth paying for. Read the raw data or stay as close to it as you can.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 17 2020, @05:17AM
Actually just about everyone. None of the networks are reliable for truth, but Fox is at the bottom of the barrel.
Weird that anyone would bother defending Fox, especially an ex-democrat.
So can we just unmask all the Scooby Doo villains around here???
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:24PM (3 children)
No, they should have validated Chinese claims before repeating them and pressured China with the full support of the international community. China would let international observers in or WHO call a pandemic meaning all air traffic to and from China from WHO members would be grounded at Chinese expense.
They did no such thing. Lay-people with less information were calling the pandemic in mid-January while the WHO were busy denying human to human transmission. The WHO have no plausible deniability [change.org] and neither do the UN. [brookings.edu]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:37AM (2 children)
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
At that point, those lay people were wrong to call the pandemic, particularly with that lack of information. Let us keep in mind that there are lay people who will call any disease that shows up in the news as the next pandemic.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:40PM (1 child)
All you need to know these days is that if some sickness starts in China, it's gonna be a pandemic. So it's a pretty safe bet to call it that. One guy on BitChute I check on sometimes started reporting on it early, and when he said it jumped to Northern Italy in January I stocked up. Glad I did, now.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @03:40AM
(Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:31PM (9 children)
WHO warnings were crap. They declared a "global health emergency" [statnews.com] on Jan. 30 only after the CDC reported a case of human-to-human transmission [statnews.com], and even then they were handing out bad advice:
W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency as Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads [archive.org]
Here's a postponement notice [twitter.com].
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:36PM (3 children)
Were they supposed to declare an emergency before they had any evidence of human to human transmission?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:56PM
They had the evidence they needed. But it looks like the CDC used its own announcement that morning (Jan. 30) to prod them into finally making *a* right decision.
Net connection is getting wrecked, it will take a long time for me to reply anywhere.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @12:06AM
They knew. Even Ted Lieu [twitter.com] scores. WHO screwing up isn't a partisan issue, nor something we can ignore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:57PM
what kind of stupid fucking slave sucks WHO ass?
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:48AM (4 children)
How come countries that listened to/followed on them, as crap and untimely as they may have been, have much better results than US?
Australia - mortality rate: 0.97% [worldometers.info] - US mortality rate: 4.42% [worldometers.info]
(Australia started serious countermeasures - social distancing and what not - in early March [wikipedia.org])
(Point: blaming the WHO exclusively for your own administration failure is stupid)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 5, Insightful) by driverless on Thursday April 16 2020, @03:51AM
It's even worse than that. At the same time as the US, Vietnam were informed by WHO and the US CDC of the upcoming issues due to Covid19. Same time, same organisations, same advice as the US got. Vietnam, which has a pretty dodgy medical system, responded appropriately and has a pretty low death toll/infection rate (although I don't believe the official figures). The US, which got the same information at the same time from the same organisations and has a way better medical system than Vietnam, has the worst death toll in the world.
Incidentally, this is a great data point for causing severe cognitive dissonance in Trump fans. Strongest response I've had for pointing this out was actual hysterics, the person literally started screaming at me. I didn't do it deliberately, just pointed out this example and saw someone go completely to pieces over the conflict between what they wanted to believe and hard reality.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:03AM (2 children)
Many reasons:
#1: Urban density. Canberra is Australia's most densely compacted city (yes - more than Sydney). It has a density of about 500 people per kilometer. New York City has a population density of 10,700 people per kilometer.
#2: Fat. America is fat, really fat. Obesity + virus = dead. I also suspect we are not equivalent in other things such as immune compromised folks, etc. This means same cause = different effects.
#3: Globalism. New York City is a world epicenter for trade, migration, and so on. That means more spreaders and worse overall impact. Australia, simply, is not.
#4: Super spreaders. New York has large numbers of orthodox Jews who believe that if humanity suffers, it's gods will. They're similar to the Christian sect in Korea with similar views that also worked as super spreaders. They don't vaccinate or engage in other efforts to prevent viruses or disease. Same reason New York City tends to be an epicenter for measles outbreaks, etc. Australia, to my knowledge, lacks a similar group of super spreaders.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:55AM (1 child)
Ok, let's speak of South Korea then. It had the same data from WHO and super-spreaders and started much earlier on the infection curve, and yet it managed to pull a 2.16% mortality rate [worldometers.info].
USofA, having the benefit of the insight of what happened elsewhere... fucked up precious time to hit 4.42%. And for this one should lay the blame exclusively on the WHO?
Like, the Trump administration is squeaky clean and, no sirree, Trump is not deflecting blame, he's just telling how it is. Is that what you're trying to say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @03:33PM
Those mortality rates are incomparable, because each country has their own testing policy.
More interesting would be hospitalizations and outcomes.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:32PM (4 children)
The WHO didn't do anything except regurgitate Chinese propaganda. Why exactly do they need billions in funding to do this, and why should anyone else be footing the bill for an organization that does nothing but praise the Chinese Communist party?
Comparing this to Trump's response is pure whataboutism. The WHO was derelict in its duty to the rest of the world in handling this contagion, and far more countries were harmed than Trump's America.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by mr_bad_influence on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:37AM (3 children)
I respectfully disagree. I think it's missing the point. The WHO isn't perfect. What international organization is? Can they do better? Sure. Can WE do better? I know we can. The point is that this organization exists and it's all we've got. Imagine where we (earth) would be if they weren't there. It's the best we've got and they foster relations and dialogue (good or bad, political or not) between nations. We have to start somewhere.
So, regardless of the issues with the WHO, it's evident the USA had the relevant information and it was OUR responsibility to act on it for the health of all Americans. The WHO is not responsible for that.
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:38PM (1 child)
The countries ignoring WHO's advice, like S. Korea and Taiwan, have done much better. So where would be? Probably in a place where scientists analyzed the available information and were not unduly influenced by Chinese lies given amplified credibility via a presumptively scientific body. We don't know if it would have worked out better, but one thing is certain, the WHO was a harmful player in all this and needs to go.
(Score: 2) by quietus on Thursday April 16 2020, @07:38PM
Both countries with a keen eye on the true state of China, as seen on the ground, not as reported in the media, or to official instances.
Which puts forward a question: how come the US -- or most other Western states -- intelligence agencies (and embassies) not reporting the true nature of this threat, as witnessed on the ground, to their respective governments?
As to Western media: why did they make it seem -- and still make it seem -- like Wuhan province was the only place with severe lockdown restrictions, while you had/have similar lockdown measures in the rest of China? Was/is it too expensive to send over some additional journalists to other cities in China, and check the situation out there?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Thursday April 16 2020, @09:59PM
Yes, being blatantly corrupt is a far cry from perfection.
Whether or not Trump or the USA handled the situation well does not excuse the WHO from sucking the CCPs fat member. I don't know why you and the other CCP apologists keep bringing it up. This entire thread is strictly about the WHO. If you need to bring Trump into the picture, then you clearly have no substantial argument in defense of the WHO and should just shut up.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:03PM
No need for shock troops, but a little less cockgobbling would be nice.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by RamiK on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:27PM (6 children)
You know, there's an obvious flaw in Trump's little scapegoating circus of the WHO and China: No other nation is backing him up and cutting funding to the WHO.
Let me clue you in on what's happening by making a prediction: When the dust settles the WHO will get their funding back and will switch malaria medication suppliers to Trump's company.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:42PM (2 children)
WHO should get their funding back (assuming Trump actually goes through with this) after Tedros is ditched. Directors-General serve 5 year terms, assuming no resignation or death in office (Lee Jong-wook).
Or you can just let a President Biden re-open the money spigot. Either way, they will get their precious funding back soon.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:09PM (1 child)
WHO will get their money back, but on terms that ensure that timely & accurate info is being conveyed.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:58AM
Can the US government ensure that the info it conveys is timely & accurate (even by tweet)? Gonna need to rewrite history for that.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Bot on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:55PM (1 child)
> No other nation is backing him up and cutting funding to the WHO.
When the USA wanted others to boycott chinese routers, nations under USA influence didn't follow suit either. There is only one other nation who can say fuck you to China and is Russia, the others will carefully consider. The Chinese are pretty vengeful, and if they were better than you Americans the system would have not picked them as the new chosen superpower. China is next and some Africans in 150 years. By then Europe will lay in ruins. The game of big money (with the two legs capitalism and socialism) has been going on for a while.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:11PM
You're a little behind the times. The US is and has been saying fuck you for a while. It seems to be working. Meanwhile, in the EU it's appeasement as usual.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:29PM
Only to treat malaria, though!
Anti-malarial treatment hailed by Trump has no benefit for coronavirus patients, French researchers find [scmp.com]
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @06:38AM (2 children)
Most of that is bullshit and/or spin. The rest of the world had plenty of time to react to the virus. A lot more time than China did. Evidence: There are countries which have it under control based on publicly available information. They could lose control of course but they are definitely doing better than the USA and a lot of Europe. Sweden has access to this supposedly hidden/covered up info and they still think it's not that dangerous. What more do you want the WHO or China to do? You want China to take over the world and enforce lockdowns?
Dec 16-30: China starts noticing the new disease
Dec 30: China stops Li Wenliang etc from telling the public about the disease. Note this was at a very early stage where nobody knew how dangerous the disease really was - not enough statistics and info. And even today many are still saying it's not that dangerous (look at Sweden and Brazil). Countries don't lockdown entire cities due to seasonal flu after all.
Dec 31: China informs the WHO of the pneumonia cases (no cover up when the info is via "proper" channels).
Jan 11: China reports their first death.
Jan 12: China submits the covid-19 genome to the WHO which is then shared globally. Scientists around the world start working on it.
Jan 23: China locks down Wuhan, starts building hospitals. None of you noticed that happening? Didn't see China's death counts going up either did you?
Jan 30: WHO: declares it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
Jan 30: Trump: We have it very well under control
Feb 2: Trump: We pretty much shut it down
Feb 10: Trump: Lot of people think it goes away in April. We're in great shape.
Feb 19: Trump: I think the numbers are going to get progressively better...
Feb 23: Trump: We have it very much under control
Feb 26: Trump: Because of all we've done the risk to the American people remains very low
Feb 28: Trump: This is their new hoax.
Mar 11: WHO: declares it a pandemic.
Mar 17: Trump: I've always known this is a real... this is a pandemic.
So who has been doing most of the lying and cover ups?
Of course the WHO doesn't call it a pandemic in Jan 2020. Because it was not a pandemic back then. It's only a pandemic because the whole world didn't manage to control the disease. It would be lying to say the whole world is on fire when it wasn't on fire yet. So the WHO called it a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern.".
As for the Chinese officials calling it a pandemic in secret, I find that story rather suspect and possible US propaganda. Why? Because 1) a pandemic is a disease that's gone global, at that point of time it hadn't gone global enough to be called a pandemic. 2) The Chinese authorities would likely have been using Mandarin terms not English. Go figure, maybe even look up the difference between epidemic and pandemic, and ask why the media would use the "pandemic" term now etc. Yeah and let's put most of the blame on China because they took 6 days longer than they could have when they're the first country to deal with the new disease. How about the rest of world taking weeks or months longer?
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:03PM
And while we're at it, could we please stop using the word "epicentre" to describe place(s) that are particularly infested with the coronavirus? They're not epicentres. Epicentres are places that are above the centre. Being on the surface, they are centres, plain and simple.
With an earthquake, the centre is underground, so using epicentre for the place above it in the surface is OK.
-- hendrik
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:58PM
this is incorrect. I will not bother going through your list as the genome was sequenced a week earlier and China refused to share that information. In fact the first sequence information was available at the end of December but China would not share the sequence with the international scientific community. They also would not allow independent scientist access to the region or specific information.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by corey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:06PM (3 children)
Thing is by pulling funding then the US has no further influence on the WHO. And they'll be even more influenced by, and pander to, China. And as a whole bunch of world leaders right now are saying, now is not the time for this type of action. Beat the virus, then sort out the WHO funding and politics later.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:14PM (2 children)
In effect, what you're saying is that the US needs to keep flushing huge sums of money down the shitter to organizations that aren't really delivering any value whatsoever.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:30AM
And this is something new and surprising [wikipedia.org]?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:45PM
What do you propose to replace it with? Because such an agency is sorely needed in the world.
Yeah. Thought so.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:31AM
An easier question: "WHO do you not work for?"
Based on the results [worldometers.info], Trump administration haven't worked for the American people.
And then, it refuses to take any responsibility for the failure [politico.com].
If cutting the funding to the WHO is justified, what commensurate measure one should apply for the Trump administration?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:27PM (65 children)
Need more scapegoats... Did the China scandal fizzle?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:33PM (63 children)
Are we in for another surprise? [unz.com] And so much secrecy! You'd think the CDC is based in China!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:08PM (26 children)
Swine Flu was a fucking nothingburger. And Bill Gates is a fucking Jew. The Wikipedia says that he's not a Jew, but he's pure Crypto: Those beady eyes, that hooknosed goblin look, that predatory shark-like grin you'd see on a hungry pitbull. His penchant for wearing Wal-Mart pullover sweaters despite being a gazillionaire. His father stood with Soros and he himself stood with Epstein after Epstein was released.
Bill Gates' vaccines have crippled and killed a lot of people in developing nations, and now he wants America to have that experience wholesale.
(Score: 5, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:18PM (1 child)
Swine flu? Don't you mean the American Virus?
Origin of H1N1 [cdc.gov]
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:32PM
Damn right it's American. Our unofficial motto is: Everything's better with bacon.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:33PM (6 children)
Our most likely future:
(Score: -1, Troll) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 15 2020, @09:43PM (2 children)
Plot Twist: The Jews were the Nazis all-along!
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Bot on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:07PM (1 child)
Trivia: who is the actual, biological, father of the nation of Israel? A____f H____r.
Account abandoned.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:23PM
Pretty much so, if Hitler hadn't persecuted the normal Jew, Israel would remain only as an experiment for the religious freaks. It still pretty much is, but even the non-religious are having it propped up in case they need it as their bug-out space.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @01:52PM (2 children)
1) The common cold is a rhinovirus. This is coronavirus. The common cold does not kill one in a thousand who presents with symptoms. And do put your tinfoil hat back on. So much for your objection.
2) Proof? Yeah, thought not. Contact tracing has been done for decades in this country in relation to public health and disease, in case you hadn't noticed.
3) OK. Put your tinfoil hat back on.
4) Yes. Fascism is entirely possible in this country at this point. But disease tracking is useful and necessary for certain diseases, and has already been implemented. Here's what CDC already tracks [medlineplus.gov]. And contact tracing has already been done, and is usually implemented at a county level. Which has always been inefficient and ineffective, but it's what has been done.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:34PM (1 child)
Erm... the common cold is a bunch of different viruses all lumped together under a very unhelpful name. Yes, including some types of corona viruses.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:10PM
I seem to recall hearing that there are about a hundred viruses, any one of which could cause a common cold.
So vaccinating against the cold wold require about a hundred vaccinations.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:00PM (4 children)
Are you off your meds again?
(Score: 2, Touché) by Ethanol-fueled on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:31PM (2 children)
Ahh, I see that Bolshevik psychiatry is making a comeback beyond "take your meds, schizo." It's too late. The Goyim know and the Goyim knowing is now mainstream.
(Score: 3, Touché) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:51PM (1 child)
Good lord. Bolshevik psychiatry.
So, yes then.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @03:31AM
I think you made a pretty big assumption that he was ever ON proper meds.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @11:43PM
EF is suffering from Swinehund Flu.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Bot on Wednesday April 15 2020, @10:05PM (11 children)
Jew is a state of mind, after all, it's a race because jews are more comfortable with that subdivision. In this regard, Gates's pedigree as a jew squared is called windows, and even if he develops actual viruses and kills people with vaccines, he has already peaked his damage to humanity with the humble PC. I think Soros keeps an autograph of Gates in his pocket and looks at it every evening for inspiration.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday April 16 2020, @12:11AM (10 children)
Good thing Jesus wasn't a Jew then!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2, Troll) by Bot on Thursday April 16 2020, @12:28PM (9 children)
How can the Messiah be among those who don't recognize Him as such? That would take a fair amount of lack of belief in yourself and hypocrisy.
Jews are by definition those who don't believe him. Your rebuttal stems from having adopted the "jews were first then came christians" racist narrative. BOOOO.
Logically, either Christ is an impostor, or is the Messiah. If he is the Messiah, then Abraham was a Christian, Moses was a Christian, John the baptist was quite the Christian well before 30AD, and jews were born as a schismatic sect right when king Herod became a bit jealous of a newborn. If he is an impostor, then the followers of the true God might be the dwindling number of Hebrews that are not sold on zionism (which essentially gave up waiting for any messiah).
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:29PM (8 children)
Because there's no way for him to be both, amirite?
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday April 17 2020, @03:58AM (7 children)
>Because there's no way for him to be both, amirite?
there is maybe a way, but not in the context you are replying to.
X says I am Y is either true or false, false DEFINES being impostor.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @04:02AM
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @04:03AM (5 children)
X is not a single entity.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday April 17 2020, @08:34PM (4 children)
and that would be relevant, how?
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 18 2020, @11:44AM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday April 18 2020, @07:50PM (2 children)
are you referring to the Trinity? Matt 3 17 says the Son, which BTW is the only entity you can apply logic to.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday April 18 2020, @09:15PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Bot on Sunday April 19 2020, @12:07AM
Your approach to binary logic is sure wasteful. Prove that any opinion on the matter, not metadata like dunno, not sure, provides a different value than T o F to the assertion, then you will have something.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:10AM (14 children)
I doubt that "patient zero" of the US was singular. I suspect that several "patient zero"s crossed from China to the US during December,2019 before the disease was identified. Most of them probably had very mild cases, but even one with a serious, as in died in the hospital of pneumonia, case wouldn't have been recognized as anything special.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:30AM (10 children)
There is too much secrecy. Nobody can truthfully say it came from China. Everything over the last three years is awash in hearsay. We have achieved true postmodernism. I expected better
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:24AM (9 children)
Why not? Note that the underlying cause of the secrecy in question is China and that they have huge incentive to cast blame elsewhere given the misdeeds they committed in the early days of the infection.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:38AM (8 children)
There is just as much secrecy and just as much motivation to pass blame in the US. We hear it every time he opens his mouth. You're just reciting the yellow tabloids and Trump tweets
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:11AM (7 children)
Oh really? Then where is it?
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:13PM (6 children)
Then where is it?
With the CDC. You didn't read the link. The US government is simply projecting.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:57PM (5 children)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @05:00PM (4 children)
Their "conspiracy theories" will kick your conspiracy theories' ass!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:28PM (3 children)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @09:27PM (2 children)
frayed knot. You are parroting standard yellow journalism. Your conspiracy theories are based purely on the appeal to authority.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @03:35AM (1 child)
Again, what am I parroting? Be specific. Since I'm asking in multiple places, you can just reply once to this post [soylentnews.org].
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @04:08AM
Bla bla bla... You're just playing stupid again
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @06:14AM (2 children)
A week before Xmas, my brother-in-law in Oklahoma experienced a flu-like illness which landed him in the hospital and darn near shut down his lungs for good. The doctors were unable to associate the symptoms to any known illness, though they exactly match Covid-19. He survived (without intubation) after three weeks of care. He had been working as a camp counselor in another another state for a site that hosts retreats for international students.
I live near Seattle - a few miles from the hospital where the first US death happened (Feb 28th), and I personally know about a dozen people who experienced Covid-19-like symptoms during the months of January and February.
My suspicion is that the virus had been spreading through the USA nearly concurrently with the outbreak in Asia, and only came to light when it was contracted by victims with "underlying conditions" leading to hospitalization and death. Since many healthy folk experience only mild symptoms, the identification of a "patient zero" may prove impossible.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @08:50PM
Sorry, I don't buy that. If you look at March, the number of reported cases grew from 42 reported cases to 185k. If it had been kicking around in December, there would be hundreds of thousands of cases by March, maybe even millions of cases.
So right there, we have symptoms matching the known illness, influenza by definition since the symptoms are flu-like. My workplace in northwest Wyoming also suffered from influenza cases during that time, mostly brought in from nearby communities in December. I think it was the first week or two of January before we stopped implementing quarantine procedures.
Now, it is possible that your brother-in-law was suffering from some coronavirus (and a weakened immune system). The Wuhan strain is not the only strain of it in the world. But I'd look to the fires that are already burning rather than a new disease that somehow didn't infect enough people to be noticed.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday April 17 2020, @10:59AM
if two anecdotes are better than one anecdote, a family friend here in Italy was hospitalized for one month because of a flu this december. 50 year old no previous history of grave flu. Probably vaccinated too.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2, Touché) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:22AM (20 children)
Even if all of that were true, every last bullet point is completely irrelevant to the subject of whether "patient zero" comes from outside of China or not. And the speculation is ludicrous:
So now, irrelevant details are woven into yet another conspiracy plot which includes every novel disease the author read about in the papers, taking researchers out of context (like Lucey) and treating "Chinese research" as if it were real.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:42AM (19 children)
Of course your tabloid conspiracy theories are fact, right?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @11:11AM (18 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:08PM (17 children)
Never said you owned a tabloid. You're just spewing their war mongering garbage. You're just another lemming.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @02:11PM
hit the wrong button, that was me.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 16 2020, @04:54PM (15 children)
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday April 16 2020, @09:32PM (14 children)
That made no sense. You are still passing tabloid conspiracy theories that are false. I'll assume you're just following orders, as usual.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @03:33AM (13 children)
Like what? Be specific.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @04:06AM (12 children)
Origin of the virus, for one
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @09:25AM (11 children)
Being specific, has there been any evidence for the virus in human hosts - much less US human hosts - before Wuhan? For example, the tabloid claim was
And yet, no such coronavirus was seen in the US until after it was established in Wuhan and most early cases are associated with China. Nor did the tabloid point to any evidence in support of this claim (for example, a key claim that the US might have been the source, with no indication of how, comes from a second tabloid [tass.com] and an anonymous "diplomatic source" who spouts vague accusations "However, for a long time we have been watching with concerns the US military and biological activity carried out in direct proximity with our borders." which is completely bullshit - Russia can easily stop any such activity were it to be a genuine concern and what is "biological activity"?).
The facts are that there's no known cases outside of Wuhan until somewhere around the beginning of January when Taiwan started monitoring flights out of China. That COVID-19 is sufficiently infectious that if it did start somewhere else, say like the US, there would be massive numbers of cases there in early 2020, like the beginning of March. No such concentration of cases has ever been found. Further, such cases would have been detected by countries that were scanning passengers in early 2020.
If it's supposed to be the release of some biological agent, why are we supposed to suspect the US in a complete absence of evidence? Both China and Russia for obvious other candidates do bioweapons research too. And no reasons, much less evidence for those reasons, for why this would occur deliberately have been presented. Because presumably an accidental release of a US bioweapon in China is a ludicrous scenario, right?
Sorry, this is really stupid, even for you.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @02:51PM (10 children)
The facts are...
that you are repeating propaganda, no more valid, and probably less so, that any of your other conspiracy theories.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @05:18PM (2 children)
"But but but that's propaganda". Sorry, evidence or shut the fuck up. I'm tired of your idiotic bleating.
So I suppose we're left with deliberate infection by a bioweapon which somehow magically defaults to the US - which like everyone else isn't known for deploying bioweapons on someone else's soil. That's deep in make-up-shit territory - you know, propaganda? Nobody has evidence for that.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @05:29PM (1 child)
Sorry, evidence or shut the fuck up.
Exactly what I have been telling you, but you simply appeal to authority, repeating their bullshit.
Evidence has no effect on you. You just wave your hands and say "propaganda". More projection, I guess.
Really, you can save your energy...
I'm tired of your idiotic bleating.
Do tell! Mr. bankers boy
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @05:47PM
No, you haven't. For a glaring example, you didn't tell me that in the above post.
Projection. You are only one doing that.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @05:19PM (6 children)
"But but but that's propaganda". Sorry, evidence or shut the fuck up. I'm tired of your idiotic bleating.
My "propaganda" has never been contested by you. Again, there's been massive testing throughout the world, for the first few weeks, all the cases were coming out of China. Then they started coming out of countries that had subsequently established infections, Iran, Italy, and South Korea. Then it became endemic in most of the rest. If the source had naturally come from the US, there would be massive infections coming out of the US. It could not be hidden.
So I suppose we're left with deliberate infection by a bioweapon which somehow magically defaults to the US - which like everyone else isn't known for deploying bioweapons on someone else's soil. That's deep in make-up-shit territory - you know, propaganda? Nobody has evidence for that.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @05:38PM (5 children)
My "propaganda" has never been contested by you.
Of course that's not true. It's just not worth the effort after the first time. You just roboticly repeat banker bullshit regardless of the truth. You simply don't hear. Why would I waste time arguing with a recorded message that we all know to be false?
I'm tired of your idiotic bleating.
Cool. You know the routine then...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @05:51PM (4 children)
There was no first time. Evidence or shut the fuck up.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @06:12PM (3 children)
Been there done that. More than once is redundant.
Toodles...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @06:32PM (2 children)
No you haven't. You're doing the same weaselly, evasive bullshit you've done multiple posts in this thread already.
Let us review. You post a link to some tabloid conspiracy theory. That's your "once".
I point out that they're so lazy they can't even be bothered to try to make it relevant (the list of non sequiturs about the CDC's failings) and they also quote other tabloid conspiracy theories as if they were fact (Russian anonymous sources claiming concern about US "biological activity"). It's tabloids all the way down. That's my once. A rational, honest person would have apologized and shut up at that point.
Ever since, you've done some weird DARVO [wikipedia.org] nonsense, accusing me of "propaganda" and "tabloid conspiracy" when you're the only one in the thread doing that. You're accusing me of your failure.
So will you for the first time present evidence supporting the assertion that the US is somehow responsible for COVID-19 in Wuhan? The CDC having problems is completely irrelevant. Russian anonymous sources pulled out of some tabloid writer's ass don't count. Alleged Chinese research that no one can find is not evidence. Out of context quotes from scientists in the news isn't evidence.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Friday April 17 2020, @06:46PM (1 child)
Let us review.
Knock yourself out
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Friday April 17 2020, @08:17PM
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2020, @08:48PM
Troll
Moderators need the scapegoats too. They are on patrol to protect the narrative.