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Researchers worldwide are racing to develop potential vaccines and drugs to fight the new coronavirus, called SARS-Cov-2. Now, a group of researchers has figured out the molecular structure of a key protein that the coronavirus uses to invade human cells, potentially opening the door to the development of a vaccine, according to new findings.

Previous research revealed that coronaviruses invade cells through so-called “spike” proteins, but those proteins take on different shapes in different coronaviruses. Figuring out the shape of the spike protein in SARS-Cov-2 is the key to figuring out how to target the virus, said Jason McLellan, senior author of the study and an associate professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin.

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The haters don’t understand Trump, but the people he helps do.

The Arctic Is Getting Greener. That’s Bad News for All of Us  Wired ‘Science’.

Driven By Climate Change, Desalination Researchers Seek Solutions To Water Scarcity

Wash your Trash! Is recycling working?  Apparently not. I, for one, refuse to wash trash.

ABC Sends Reporter to Africa to Lecture Americans on Climate Change

The Problem with Palm Oil

Julian Castro: Bloomberg Is ‘Donald Trump’s Wet Dream’

‘Bill Barr Derangement Syndrome’

Joe Scarborough: Trump Pardon Of Blagojevich ‘Straight Out Of Louis XIV’  I’m surprised Joe can count that high.

New York Times Double Standards: Trump’s Clemency ‘Spree’ vs Obama’s ‘Mercy’

Report: Las Vegas Group Glues MAGA Hats on Pigeons

Reagan’s Daughter: Trump ‘Destroying More Than We Can Ever Rebuild’

Trump Pardons Trigger Selective Outrage At CNN En Español

MSNBC’s Jason Johnson Likens Trump to a ‘Proto Dictator’ Over Pardons

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Here we show that thin-film devices made from nanometre-scale protein wires harvested from the microbe Geobacter sulfurreducens can generate continuous electric power in the ambient environment. The devices produce a sustained voltage of around 0.5 volts across a 7-micrometre-thick film, with a current density of around 17 microamperes per square centimetre. We find the driving force behind this energy generation to be a self-maintained moisture gradient that forms within the film when the film is exposed to the humidity that is naturally present in air.

We have the technology.

Victor Davis Hanson.

In 2020 we have finally hit peak progressivism. The adjective “peak”—apex or summit— is often used to describe something that has reached its maximum extent but thereafter will insidiously decline—like supposed U.S. domestic oil production in 2000 when more oil was purportedly taken out of, rather than still in the ground. While the idea of peak oil in the days before fracking and horizontal drilling proved vastly premature, we likely are witnessing something like “peak progressivism” today.

By that I mean the hard-left takeover of the Democratic Party and the accompanying progressive agenda now have reached an extreme—beyond which will only result in the steady erosion of radical ideology altogether.

I hope he’s right.

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Good to see that somebody is pushing back on these liars.

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Haters gotta hate.

Welcome to our world, little girl.

UPDATE: Ocasio-Cortez Says She’d ‘Never Malign’ Competition — Right After She Slams Republican Challengers

UPDATE: Meet Catalina Lauf, The ‘Anti-AOC’ Candidate Running To Be The Youngest Person Ever Elected To Congress

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City councilors in Cambridge, Massachusetts, voted to prohibit police officers from arresting illegal aliens if they are caught operating a vehicle without a license.

Under a newly passed city ordinance in Cambridge, residents are still legally required to carry a driver’s license if they are operating a vehicle, but local law enforcement has been ordered not to arrest illegal aliens caught driving without identification, Boston 25 News first reported.

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One major factor in the decision to not charge the plainly guilty Andrew McCabe was the fact that the jury pool was to be taken from a voting pool of 90% Hillary Clinton voters, and 4% Trump voters.

We can no longer permit such two-tiered justice based simply on zip codes.

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Since 2015, Police Scotland has logged more than 3,300 “hate incidents.” These are jokes, statements, or behaviors that do not involve any criminality, but which someone else perceives to be motivated by hatred (usually on account of race, religion, or — what else? — gender identity). “An offensive joke may be reported by someone, but not amount to any criminality, so we would log this as a hate incident,” Police Scotland explained.

But how, exactly, do the police decide what constitutes “hate”? According to official guidelines, that doesn’t matter. “Hate incidents” should be filed “irrespective of whether there is any evidence to identify the hate element.”

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Anyone who has thought about identity politics—the great intellectual disorder of our age—must conclude that the term obfuscates more than it illuminates. Identity politics is first and foremost not a politics of identity, but an obsession with oppression and victimization. Only those who claim to be victimized get to have their identity recognized, affirmed and honored.

Where we once bestowed on monuments, civic buildings, and streets the names of great generals, statesmen, and authors, now only those who claim to be victimized get to have their identity recognized, affirmed, and honored. They get museums, holidays, commemorative stamps, movies, and books sanctifying their suffering and celebrating their accomplishments, both real and fake (George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter). Their purported oppressors—men, heterosexuals, and above all, white people—are denied this privilege. They must atone in perpetuity for the sins of their fathers.

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A Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday calling for less democracy sparked swift backlash online, causing the publication’s motto to trend on Twitter Wednesday morning.

The op-ed, titled “It’s time to give the elites a bigger say in choosing the president,” suggests that a “better primary system would empower elites to bargain and make decisions, instructed by voters.” It adds that having “intermediate representatives” who are elected and “understand the priorities of their constituents” could be far better than the system of democracy currently in place.

The suggestion was written by Julia Azari, an associate professor at Marquette University. Wapo’s op-ed was ill-received and the publication’s famous slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” ironically began to trend on Twitter.

My brother went to Marquette, and he’s a Bernie supporter. I suspect that the two are not unrelated.

To be fair, we don’t have democracy in America; all of our public policies are fashioned by groups of elected representatives, from the local school board on up. Formally, this constitutes a republican form of government, as guaranteed in the Constitution.

Furthermore, each of these bodies pretends to have members chosen as the ‘best person for the job’, which the ancient Greeks would categorize as aristocracy, not democracy. But nobody cares what words mean any more.

Steve Sailer reviews a new book about race denial.

In contrast to Angela Saini’s acclaimed but dismal 2019 work of science denialism, Superior: The Return of Race Science, Adam Rutherford’s 2020 book How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality benefits from Rutherford’s lively prose style. The British science writer likes to illustrate his arguments with interesting examples, a stratagem that wouldn’t seem too much to ask of an author, but which is increasingly difficult to find these days as conventional wisdom (which Rutherford labors hard to embody) becomes ever more anti-empirical.

Despite blustering on his Twitter bio, “Back off man, I’m a scientist,” Rutherford appears to have largely transitioned from being a geneticist to being a science pundit in the mode of Neil deGrasse Tyson and Richard Dawkins. But that’s not a dishonorable career path.

But neither is it one to inspire confidence. At best it is merely monetizing a reputation.

Joel Kotkin looks at the Trump/Bloomberg axis.

Mike Bloomberg’s vision proved to be a cul de sac. The future gentry liberals want is grim. A new urban paradigm is needed that focuses on core services for regular people.

In a year when two boosters of the “luxury city,” Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg, are vying to run the whole country, the very model that created their “success” is slowly unraveling. After roughly 20 years of big-city progress, measured by economic growth and demographic progress, the dense urban centers, including New York, are again teetering on the brink of decline.

Long associated with glamour, money and cultural influence, the rise of the luxury city has foundered on the rocks of inequality and, increasingly, diminished upward mobility. Indeed, according to Pew research, the greatest inequality now exists in superstar cities such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Rather than working to create and sustain a middle class, as Jane Jacobs once suggested, by building local economies, these cities have depended on luring both the ultra-rich and the young and ambitious of the global marketplace to secure and enhance their place.

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It’s still early, but the Democratic Party nomination process reminds me of Yogi Berra’s line about center field at Yankee stadium: “It gets late early out there.” It’s already late for the Democrats, and it is becoming clear that the Democrats are doomed this year.

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NBC’s medical drama New Amsterdam had an unusual diagnosis this week in the episode, “Sabbath.” After Dr. Helen Sharpe finds her 13-year-old patient Cephas has four benign tumors growing in his stomach and that the boy has elevated levels of stress hormones, psychiatrist Dr. Iggy Frome determines the tumors were caused by racism. As the surgeon operates and removes the four tumors from Cephas he warns the tumors could come back and might not be benign next time.

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My prediction for the 2016 race was based on a variety of observational and anecdotal evidence. I listened to Democrats, Republicans and independents across the U.S. I talked to people who consider themselves apolitical. I heard from taxi and Uber drivers, the Verizon man, stay-at-home moms, college grads, professionals, blue-collar delivery workers. And I watched nearly every rally of Trump and his opponents.

Now, that same unscientific methodology has led me to conclude that Trump has already secured a second term — no matter who his main opponent turns out to be.

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Warren’s collapse reveals the sorry state of today’s political media. From the perspective of voters who watch cable news and take seriously the so-called analysis and punditry they hear from so-called political experts in the media, Warren’s downfall is a shocking development. But it’s only the latest of many examples of said “experts” having absolutely no idea what they’re talking about and showing why no one should take them seriously.

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The Egyptians had better keep an eye on their firstborns….

Chicago Records Coldest Valentine’s Day In Half A Century; The Brunt Of Winter Is Likely Over – Hello Spring?

A climate emergency: what happens when the taps run dry?  The Guardian.

What Global Warming? Oregon Governor Supports Destroying Four Hydroelectric Dams

Want to Stop Climate Change? Better Tear Up the Lawn!

Warren Calls On Trump Admin To ‘Reverse’ Decision To Deploy Border Patrol Tactical Units To Sanctuary Cities  Yeah, I’m sure they’ll hurry up and do that.

Don Lemon Blames Trump for Racist Bullying, Ignored Anti-GOP Attack

Happy Presidents Day to ‘Lying Misogynistic Racist’: Celebs Bash Trump on Holiday

Ex-DOJ Official Named In FISA Abuse Report Signs Petition Calling On William Barr To Resign

Trump Takes Lap at Daytona in Presidential Limo; Daily Twitter Obsessive Freak-Out Squad Obsessively Freaks Out

MSNBC Panel Suggests AG Barr Is ‘Un-American’

Obama Tries to Take Credit for Trump’s Economy

Whoopi Goldberg Says She’ll Criticize Democrats When Trump Apologizes For ‘Access Hollywood’ Tape  Eh?

Gore Voter Registration Drive: Fight for Climate, Against Trump

Warren: Watch Us ‘Take On an Egomaniac Billionaire’  She sure talks a good fight, doesn’t she?

NeverTrumper Bret Stephens: FEAR the Secret Trump Voters  Bwah-hah-hah!

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New York Times reporter Katie Rogers used the wedding of White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller to Katie Waldman, press secretary to VP Mike Pence, to show Trump staff as purposefully isolating themselves from D.C. society in Tuesday’s “Pairing Off in Trump’s Political Bunker.” Rogers ignores the left-wing groups and outraged individual lefties mobbing Trump staff (including Miller himself) and Trump supporters as they go about their lives in the city.

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One of the disadvantages of having the government provide your health care is that if the government doesn’t approve of you, you get no health care. if the government doesn’t like Jews and you’re a Jew, well….

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David Cole imparts some inconvenient truth.

This is not going to be another coronavirus column. Yes, the disease we’ve been saddled with thanks to the Dagwood Bumsteads of China will make an appearance later on. But let’s start by rolling the clock back—way back—to a time long past, a disease long forgotten, and a lesson about footwear.

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Since AB5 took effect on January 1, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding their businesses in tatters. Musicians can’t join bands for a one-night gig, chefs can’t join forces with caterers, nurses can’t work at various hospitals, and writers must cap their submissions per media outlet to 35 per year. Under the law, these freelancers can no longer conduct the same business-to-business transactions they have for years or even decades. Clients with whom they fostered valuable relationships are gone—as are their successful careers and incomes. An overwhelming majority of professionals in fields affected by AB5 identify as liberals and have generally voted along the blue line. Today, however, many are so disillusioned with their representatives that they’re changing political loyalties.

Mississippi Capital Braces for More Flooding

‘The only uncertainty is how long we’ll last’: a worst case scenario for the climate in 2050

Speeding Sea Level Rise Threatens Nuclear Plants

Sea Levels Around The US Aren’t Just Rising, They’re Accelerating Year on Year

If They Are So Alarmed By Climate Change, Why Are They So Opposed To Solving It?

Aussie Climate Emergency Summit: “Climate change must be accepted as an overriding threat to national and human security”  Or not.

Polar bear habitat at mid-winter as extensive as 2013 & better than 2006  Good thing they can swim.’\

Extremes and Averages in Contiguous U.S. Climate – Part 10: The Contiguous U.S.

Environmental Protestors Dig Up College Lawn To Protest Fossil Fuels  These people need to be in prison,  but of course nothing will happen to them.

Jeff Bezos Launches $10 Billion “Bezos Earth Fund” To Fight Climate Change A cheap way to buy off the mob.

First Asian American sheriff in California vows to protect immigrants from Trump policies

CNN Star Brian Stelter’s ‘Reliable’ Sunday Smear: ‘Authoritarian Creep in Trump’s America’

Twitter Censors Trump Daytona 500 Photo as ‘Sensitive Material’

Anthony Scaramucci: Trump Is ‘Unhinged’ Over Mike Bloomberg, Claims Bloomberg Will ‘Trounce’ Him  And he’s always been right before, hasn’t he?

This sounds like the plot of a bad movie, but Trump may have had his DNA stolen

Hulu’s ‘High Fidelity:’ Kanye West Has ‘Mental Health Issue’ for Wearing MAGA Hat

Nets Hype Calls for Barr’s Resignation…From Liberal Media Pundits

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Prediction: Nothing will happen. Romney will be re-elected to the Senate as many times as he wants to and will be a perennial pain in the ass to the Senate Republican caucus just like John McCain was.

Same old same old.

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Glad we cleared that up.

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I don’t think that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

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Okay. Of the two, I’d rather they nail Hillary than McCabe.

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Are Chinese people more vulnerable than others to the Wuhan coronavirus? The question is raised by Zhao et al. (2020), who examined lung tissues from several donors and studied a receptor that acts as the point of entry for some coronaviruses, including the ones responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003 and the ongoing outbreak in Wuhan, China. They found that the receptor was concentrated in cells that promote viral reproduction and transmission. They also found that the number of these cells in lung tissue varied with ethnic origin.

The Economist reviews a new book by Garrett Jones.

GARETT JONES, an economics professor at George Mason University in Virginia, knew he was on to a good thing when he got a call from the campus police. A student journalist had written a report on a lecture that he had given suggesting that rich countries would be better off if they were less, rather than more, democratic. The hostile reaction, which spread beyond the university, included a call threatening enough to trouble the university’s private security force. Mr Jones concluded that he had an idea powerful and contentious enough to make into a book. The result is “10% Less Democracy”.

Sounds as if he agrees with Aristotle.

If you’re taking flak, it means you’re over the target.

Read it.

As it happens, I agree with him — especially this part:

“You have to have a different skill set, you have to have a lot more gray matter. It’s not clear the teachers can teach or the students can learn, and so the challenge of society of finding jobs for these people, who we can take care of giving them a roof over their head and a meal in their stomach and a cell phone and a car and that sort of thing.”

This is the kernel of the problem that we face going forward. This is the core message that Andrew Yang was setting out. But just asking the right questions doesn’t mean you have the right answers; the typical Democrat response to this is ‘More Free Stuff!’ and that doesn’t treat the problem, merely disguises the symptoms by  burdening the productive part of the population.

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Like most modern ‘journalism’, this doesn’t have the old-fashioned newspaper recite-the-facts style but starts out with a tear-jerker story intended to ‘personalize’ things but succeeding merely in pushing whatever point of view the writer has decided is the ‘correct’ one.

I miss the good old days.

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A new report, “What Terrorist Migration Over European Borders Can Teach About American Border Security”, by Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, describes the extent to which terrorists disguised as migrants have entered the European Union to commit terrorist attacks.

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The cows are revolting.

Al Jazeera is woke.

You can’t tell the victims without a scorecard.

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Just in case you were wondering. I know I was.

After 40 Years of Hunting, Scientists Identify a Key Flaw in Solar Panel Efficiency

Are House Republicans Undermining President Trump’s Climate Policies?

Waiting for Thwaites

Plausible scenarios for climate change: 2020-2050

NY Times Delivers Page One Climate Lecture, Demanding Radical Change in Australia  I’d love to see Australia demand radical change at the New York Times.

Sharpton’s Republican? Trump Speaks ‘Out of His Rear End,’ ‘Racist to the Core’

Chuck Todd: Trump ‘Sabotaging’ Reelection, ‘Fears’ Bloomberg’s Money  Loserthink: Mind-reading. The chance that Chuck Todd knows what Trump is thinking is vanishingly small.

CNN And MSNBC Analysts Sign Petition Urging William Barr To Resign  I’d live to see Barr sign a petition asking for CNN and MSNBC analysts to resign.

Sen. Kennedy Compares Trump’s Judicial Tweets To Singing ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ In Church

Lifelong Dem Laments: “After Attending A Trump Rally, I Realized Democrats Are Not Ready For 2020”  Not even close.

MSNBC Hypes Trump’s ‘New Threat’ to Use ICE in ‘Sanctuary Cities’ to ‘Terrorize’ Illegal Aliens  Considering that some of them are operating out in the open, they don’t seem very terrorized to me.

As Bloomberg’s VP, Hillary Clinton could get revenge against Trump: Goodwin  Gotta win first.

If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it.

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The most obvious velleities of the major mainstream media today are, first, a hatred of Fox News, and second, a primal scream at the fact that over the last 25 years old fashioned print and broadcast media have shrunk more than coal mining.

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Current cultural and political developments in the U.S. are so weird that I tend to assume we must be unique. But not so: in the United Kingdom, too, “wokeness” operates as an explicit threat to freedom. The situation is even worse there than here, in fact.