Reposting here in case anyone missed the c/worldnews posting two days ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Sachs#COVID-19 (emphasis mine)

In spring 2020, Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, appointed Sachs as chair of its COVID-19 Commission, whose goals were to provide recommendations for public health policy and improve the practice of medicine. Sachs set up a number of task forces, including one on the origins of the virus.

  •  cobra89   ( @cobra89@beehaw.org ) 
    4•8 months ago

    This “article” which is a trash opinion piece (see the /opinion/ in the link) paints the US as responsible but then references and links to The Intercept’s article which states the following:

    Documents obtained by The Intercept contain new evidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, along with their collaborator, the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, have engaged in what the U.S. government defines as “gain-of-function research of concern,” intentionally making viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them, despite stipulations from a U.S. funding agency that the money not be used for that purpose.

    So the US Government literally told them they could not use the funding for that purpose and this non-profit organization did it anyway. And then this trash article proceeds to paint the US Government as responsible for what happened not to mention the fact that there is no direct evidence showing this lab has anything to do with the COVID-19 outbreak. It’s circumstantial conjecture at best.

    This isn’t journalism, it’s a trash opinion piece that’s clearly meant to smear the US as responsible for COVID-19. Ask yourself why that is.

    •  davel [he/him]   ( @davel@lemmy.ml ) OPEnglish
      3•8 months ago

      not to mention the fact that there is no direct evidence showing this lab has anything to do with the COVID-19 outbreak.

      Right, which is why Sachs is calling for “an independent scientific investigation in which all laboratories involved in the[EcoHealth Alliance] research program in the US and China fully open their books and records to the independent investigators.” Why? Because there were fishy politics around the question of the virus’ origins at the highest levels that he saw firsthand, and because there are highly unusual RNA features in the virus that point toward intentional design.

      Jeffery Sachs in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), May 2022: A call for an independent inquiry into the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus

      Special concerns surround the presence of an unusual furin cleavage site (FCS) in SARS-CoV-2 that augments the pathogenicity and transmissibility of the virus relative to related viruses like SARS-CoV-1. SARS-CoV-2 is, to date, the only identified member of the subgenus sarbecovirus that contains an FCS, although these are present in other coronaviruses. A portion of the sequence of the spike protein of some of these viruses is illustrated in the alignment shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the unusual nature of the FCS and its apparent insertion in SARS-CoV-2. From the first weeks after the genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 became available, researchers have commented on the unexpected presence of the FCS within SARS-CoV-2—the implication being that SARS-CoV-2 might be a product of laboratory manipulation.

      This isn’t journalism, it’s a trash opinion piece…

      I think it’s been established that Sachs is not just some guy with an opinion. He lead The Lancet team. The Lancet is referenced over a dozen times in Wikipedia’s main COVID-19 page. He was as deeply, directly involved with the COVID-19 pandemic and the US government’s responses to it as anyone.

      …that’s clearly meant to smear the US as responsible for COVID-19. Ask yourself why that is.

      I don’t know, why would an American economist with a long list of well-respected contributions to American empire want to smear the US?

      New York Times Magazine, 1993: Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Shock Therapist

      The lobby of the Metropole, Moscow’s lovingly restored grand hotel a few blocks from Red Square, is almost deserted on this gray spring afternoon. That’s just fine with Jeffrey D. Sachs, a boyish-looking 38-year-old Harvard professor who is now probably the most important economist in the world.

      •  cobra89   ( @cobra89@beehaw.org ) 
        2•8 months ago

        Sachs is an economist and public policy professor. The guy doesn’t have a medical background at all.

        What does “he lead the lancet team” even mean?!?

        The Lancet is a medical journal. Of course it is referenced in the wikipedia page, they are links to peer reviewed medical articles. None of which have anything to do with Sachs as far as I can tell. So what is “the lancet team”?

        And why is someone “deeply involved with the government’s response” writing an opinion piece for a publication barely anyone has ever heard of? Surely if they were so high profile they could get an actual renowned publication to publish their piece.

        Not to mention the fact that medical researchers don’t write opinion pieces on their subject of research. That’s just not something that is done. They write journals.

        Maybe because this Sach’s guy just wants attention, notoriety, and money? He has a whole personal website with a page dedicated to his articles, again something that is not typical for a researcher: https://www.jeffsachs.org/newspaper-articles

        Every single article is at Common Dreams. And look at all those topics. Writing about the war on Gaza, and the War on Ukraine too. Is he an expert in virology, world politics, or economics? Which is it? Lol

        I could understand politics since that is his actual field but this guy has zero background in economics nor health. Not sure why you’re deciding this guy is the hill you want to die on.

        •  davel [he/him]   ( @davel@lemmy.ml ) OPEnglish
          1•8 months ago

          What does “he lead the lancet team” even mean?!?

          It’s like you didn’t even read the the body of my post, never mind the wiki page I was quoting from.

          Is he an expert in virology, world politics, or economics? Which is it? Lol

          He is indeed an expert in world politics and economics. Did you not do even the most basic research into him? And no he’s not an expert in virology, but he lead The Lancet teams, and some of them were experts.

          Not sure why you’re deciding this guy is the hill you want to die on.

          What are you even talking about? Is everything about smears and hill dying? I think Sachs, and I, are interested in discovering the facts of the matter. What are your motivations?

          zero background in economics

          Oh okay, you’re just gish gallopping? You’re saying that one of the most famous economists in the world has zero background in economics? I’m not going to bother addressing your other silly arguments then. If you’re going to write nonsense, why write at all?