Saturday, November 28, 2020

Technical solutions against SARS-CoV2

Dear reader,

instead of a long, thorough analysis what actually went wrong fighting the second wave in various countries, here's just a compilation of links which show innovative technical solutions against airborne infections like SARS-CoV2. Some of those links also include information of 'reluctance' of policy makers to implement those solutions. (either because of lacking funding or just plain ignorance) Thousands of lives could have been saved already if governments cared more about providing high quality respirators for citizens meeting with others, especially indoors.

As communicated to some European military & civilian leading authorities, not all countermeasures against the spread of the highly contagious virus based just on controlling human behavior will be sufficient to tackle the problem. 

Especially considering all factors including active sabotage by people who are very busy persuading others not to wear masks or keep the necessary distances. And according to some scientists/governments this current virus pandemic is far from over even when vaccinations commence:  Swedish Government Says Vaccine Won’t Make Pandemic Go Away: DN [Bloomberg]

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst...

Just one additional comment: from the very beginning of the crisis emerging in Northern Italy, governments should have take precautions ("plan B", "failure is not an option") for more effective battle against the spread of a new, airborne virus under the assumption of a worst case scenario, instead of holding on to the misguided believe that keeping a distance of 1 or 1.5 or 2 meters will be sufficient to interrupt the chain of infection. Why not trying to mass produce /provide optimal protective gear (99-100 % airtight, with very good filter performance) for medical staff first and vulnerable parts of the population second ? BTW: Just from watching various footage of medical staff (interviewed or passing by/filmed on duty) in COVID-19 wards in different countries it's no wonder nurses and doctors have been also infected with COVID-19. Especially women wore N95/FFP2 masks which were just too big for their faces, so those masks didn't seal properly ("one size fits all") An observation in Canada: during 1st wave During 2nd wave (European observations) ICU bed scarcity occurred because medical staff shortages due to infections or quarantines of suspected infections.   

It's not rocket science and the recommendations including to wear scarfs or other simple pieces of cloth may have been legitimate at the very beginning of the crisis but not anymore ! It will take months, maybe even year, to reach some kind of 'herd immunity' by mass vaccination. Thousands more will die / get very sick unnecessarily ! Just like the Japanese people we should learn that it's much better to be prepared for very rare, but inevitable disaster events like earthquakes: Disaster Prevention Day. [Wikipedia] Unlike earthquakes European governments had more than six month during late Spring/Summer 2020 to prepare for a second wave of SARS-CoV2 infections. 

Very important: protecting people / large parts of the population from getting killed or seriously sick should have never become a political issue, except perhaps for the (imaginary!) "National Darwinist Party"

EZR endorsed:  EU4Health: MEPs pave the way for an effective EU health programme [europarl.europa.eu , Nov 13 2020]

Starting from November 28 the link compilation will be updated at least twice a week. Please note that at time this list was compiled all links worked, but there's no guarantee that websites remove or alter their content. Based on various research papers / outbreak analysis it's fair to say that protecting the airflow through nose/mouth into the lungs(superspreader events) is much more important than preventing infections resulting from contaminated hands/fingers touching the face. (current hand hygiene guidance sufficient) 


All commercial products listed here are just a 'proof of concept' and not tested or recommended by EZR. Always use a search engine for similar products and better pricing.

importance of preventing the virus entering/exiting the human body

Coronavirus: Which face covering works best? Scientists test 14 masks - and find one actually increases risk of infection [Sky News, Aug 26 2020]

Unmasked! The effect of face masks on the spread of COVID-19 [Voxeu, June 22 2020]

Face masks considerably reduce COVID-19 cases in Germany [PNAS, Dec 3 2020]

Speech can produce jet-like transport relevant to asymptomatic spreading of virus [PNAS, Oct 13 2020]

‘A Smoking Gun’: Infectious Coronavirus Retrieved From Hospital Air [NYTimes, Aug 11 2020]

What ICU doctors have learned about COVID-19 — and how they're prepared for a 2nd wave [NBC, June 13 2020]

Evidence of Long-Distance Droplet Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 by Direct Air Flow in a Restaurant in Korea [JKMS, Korea, Nov 23 2020]

 

Waar komt die blinde vlek vandaan? “Enerzijds omdat de WHO, net als het Nederlandse OMT, vooral uit medici bestaat. Die kijken naar situaties als intubaties of operaties waarbij virusdeeltjes vrijkomen; daar begrijpen ze de risico’s van. Het zijn alleen geen fysici die het transport van deeltjes begrijpen, of ingenieur die feeling hebben met ventilatiesystemen”, legt Bluyssen uit. “Anderzijds, als de WHO onderkent dat dit risico er is, dan betekent dat nogal wat voor landen waar ze de middelen niet hebben voor goede ventilatie.”

source: huidige-ventilatierichtlijnen-niet-voldoende-in-de-strijd-tegen-corona/ [NETHERLANDS, Prof. Bluyssen TU Delft]

 


Public health measures in various countries (mask mandates, etc)

Coronavirus: Masks made mandatory outdoors across Italy [ITALY, Oct 8 2020]

Bremer Senat setzt bei Verteilung von FFP2-Masken auf Solidarität  [GERMANY, Butenunbinnen Nov 12 2020]

Nog maar helft van gratis mondmaskers van federale overheid opgehaald [BELGIUM, VRT, Sep 28 2020]


 

Petition fordert kostenlose FFP2-Masken für Risikogruppen und alle ab 60 [BELGIUM, BRF, Dec 7 2020]

Bürgermeister von Goch verlangt demnächst FFP2 Masken für Besuch im Rathaus [GERMANY, Rheinische Post, Dec 7 2020]

advanced research methods to detects outbreaks

Italy sewage study suggests COVID-19 was there in December 2019 [Reuters, June 19 2020]

Filtering masks for personal protection

https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/rheinland/laschet-besucht-vliesfirma-100.html [GERMANY, WDR]

Falsche FFP2-Masken: Wettbewerbszentrale zieht vor Gericht [GERMANY, Apotheke adhoc, Nov 19 2020]

Minderwertige FFP-2-Masken Weniger Schutz vor Corona-Viren [GERMANY, ZDF(video), Oct 26 2020]

Bremer Senat bestellt weitere 1,5 Millionen FFP2-Masken für Senioren [GERMANY, Butenenbinnen(NDR), Nov 16 2020]

Face masks developed in Ireland could help meat-plant workers [IRELAND, Irish Times, Aug 10 2020]

“Virus Terminator” Mask developed at Thessaloniki University [GREECE, KeepTalkingGreece, Dec 7 2020]

apanese Engineers Develop a Mask with Built-in Speaker, Microphone, and Translation Software [JAPAN, Tech Times, Jun 29 2020]

Corona-Schutz mit CE-Kennzeichnung [GERMANY, Dekra]

Notified bodies Nando [EUROPA database)]


QUALITÄTSMERKMALE VON FFP ATEMSCHUTZMASKEN [GERMANY, Moldex Gruppe(comm) ]

Qualität erkennen Welche FFP2-Masken sind sicher? {GERMANY, StuttgarterNachrichten, Dec 3 2020]

#Faktenfuchs: Warum Klarsichtmasken umstritten sind [GERMANY, BayrischerRundfunk, Dec 3 2020]

Pilotstudie: Umstrittene Klarsichtmaske bietet keinen Schutz [GERMANY, BayrischerRundfunk, Dec 8 2020]

Wann gibt es die FFP2-Masken für Risikopatienten? [GERMANY, Bayrischer Rundfunk, Dec 4 2020]

Dräger öffnet eigenen Online-Shop für FFP-Masken [GERMANY, MedEcon, Dec 8 2020]

People not heeding advice 

(so other people have to wear protective filtering masks)

10% of travelers won't wear a mask on public transport [NETHERLANDS, NL Times, Dec 14 2020]

re-usable PPE

Austria:


fixed/mobile filter systems for rooms, buildings, vehicles

Raumluftfilter: „Im Skiurlaub zieht man sich ja auch warm an“ GERMANY,Henstedt-Ulzberger Nachrichten, Nov 24 2020]

Kein Dauerlüften mehr: Schule baut Abluftanlage selbst [GERMANY, WDR, Nov 26 2020]

Universität der Bundeswehr München legt Schulstudie vor: Covid-19-Kriterien erfordern Luftreiniger mit H14-HEPA-Filter [GERMANY, Presseportal, Sep 23 2020]

Mobile Raumluftfilter – die Winter-Wunderwaffe? [GERMANY, Der Spiegel, Oct 30 2020]

Luftreiniger schützen besser als Lüften [GERMANY, N-TV, Aug 6 2020]


Ons ventilatiebeleid (NL-Duitsland:0-10) en oplopende cijfers (geen paniek) [Netherlands, MDH, Sep 25 2020]

Het grote belang van luchtreiniging bij de bestrijding van COVID-19​ [Netherlands, Maurice de Hond]

Ventilatie, Bestrijdingsmaatregelen [The Netherlands, Maurice de Hond, various articles]

 

Daimler Buses: Veel luchtverversing met actieve filters verhoogt veiligheid in bussen [Omniplus (commercial)]

Untersuchung des Ansteckungsrisikos im Reisebus [GERMANY, Technical University-Berlin] 

Erste Fahrzeuge bereits im Einsatz Antivirale Filter im Padersprinter [GERMANY, Westfalenblatt, Oct 19 2020]

surface disinfection  

Meet the Romanian robot which kills the coronavirus with UV light [ROMANIA, EBRD, Oct 19 2020]

miscellaneous infection prevention  

COVID-19: Nasal-Spray Preventive / WHO on Minks / Neutralizing Antibody Test [NEJM/jwatch, Nov 8 2020]

Nasal Spray Prevents Covid Infection in Ferrets, Study Finds [NYTimes, Nov 5 2020]

rapid tests / mass testing 

Options for the use of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 in the EU/EEA and the UK 

  • ECDC agrees with the minimum performance requirements set by WHO at ≥80% sensitivity and ≥97% specificity.

[EUROPE,ECDC, Nov 19 2020]

South Korea's elite contact tracers show the world how to beat Covid-19 [KOREA, Straits Times, Jul 27 2020]

Westen startet Massentests bereits Anfang Dezember [AUSTRIA, Kurier, Nov 25 2020]

Massentests: 4.000 Infizierte bei zwei Millionen Tests [AUSTRIA, Kurier, Dec 14 2020]

Südtirol: Viele Freiwillige halfen mit [ITALY, ORF, Nov 23 2020]

Corona-Massentest "Testen. Erkennen. Isolieren." [ITALY, RAI (inGerman), Dec 10]

COVID-19: Liverpool councillors go door to door encouraging people to get tested [UK, Sky News Nov 28 2020]

Slovakia's Second Round of Coronavirus Tests Draws Large Crowds [SLOVAKIA, VOA Nov7 2020]

FDA authorizes first fully at-home, over the counter COVID test [USA, The Hill, Dec 15 2020]

Evaluation of the accuracy and ease-of-use of Abbott PanBio - A WHO emergency use listed, rapid, antigen-detecting point-of-care diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 [medrxiv, Nov 30 2020]

Freiburg University Hospital and Siemens Healthineers reduce COVID-19 infection risk for employees in radiology and drive quality improvements [GERMANY, SiemensHealthineers , Jun 19 2020]

Initial results of rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 very promising [Netherlands, RIVM, Aug 10 2020]

Sneltest corona blijkt ook geschikt voor testen zonder klachten [Netherlands, NOS, Dec 4 2020]

Covid: NHS rapid test use defended amid accuracy concerns [UK, BBC, Dec 6 2020]


mobile ICU wards/beds (better prevent infections!)

French state-of-the-art mobile hospital frees-up beds for Covid-19 patients in southwest [FRANCE, RFI Nov 14 2020]

Robots for patient care and other tasks

The pandemic has been good for one kind of worker: robots [National Geographic, Sep 3 2020]

Robots are joining the fight against coronavirus in India [INDIA, CNN, Nov 12 2020]

COVID-19 robot patrol rolled out in Belgian hospitals [BELGIUM, Reuters, Jun 29 2020]

Look inside the hospital in China where coronavirus patients were treated by robots [CHINA, CNBC]

Coronavirus: Robots use light beams to zap hospital viruses [CHINA, BBC, Mar 20 2020]

Monitoring blood oxygen levels 4 vulnerable people at home

Using hotel rooms for isolation

Travellers from South Korea taken to isolation hotel in Wellington [NewZealand, Radio New Zealand, Jun 26 2020]

South Korean-style Covid-19 hotels could help to stop Britons flouting self-isolation rules amid fears only 15% are fully complying, SAGE expert suggests [UK, Daily Mail, Dec 8 2020]

VIP quarantine: Vietnam luxury hotels double as isolation quarters [Vietnam, Nikkei.com, Aug 25 2020]

Der Marburger Bund fordert deswegen nun schnelle Lösungen: „Um die Infektionen im häuslichen Umfeld zu reduzieren, sollten positiv Getestete das Angebot bekommen, die zehntägige Quarantäne in einem Hotelzimmer zu verbringen.“ Das Angebot sollte freiwillig sein und nur für Menschen gelten, die gar keine oder nur schwache Symptome haben, so Johna.

source:Deutschland am Corona Limit - Kommt die Quarantäne im Hotel ?  [GERMANY, Morgenpost, Nov 6 2020]

Corona tracing apps

A bit tricky, since they only work properly (as intended) when embedded into a a good testing & isolating scheme as explained in detail here: Contact tracing apps [EZRsecurity, Dec 25 2020]

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Document created:  Nov 28  2020

Document updated: Jan 25 2021

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at No comments:

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Sticking to reality and science will keep us alive and healthy

 Dear reader and especially American friends,

a lot has already been written about the power of propaganda / disinformation / fake news and so on. - either by EZR or other authors. The American presidential election outcome after November 3rd didn't just determine who will be the next president of the United States, but will also put the United States of America back on track towards reality and reason. Amid the most dangerous pandemic since 1918 this can have an impact as tremendous as the roll-out of several vaccines proven to be effective against SARSCoV2. We are not there yet since no country has given its approval for the new vaccine to be used to protect the public so for the time being we all still need to rely on what the scientists / medical specialists recommend us to do. Yes, for some people who don't like to be told what to do it's kind of hard to listen to those recommendations, but it shouldn't be that hard to follow the very egoistic reason of self preservation. To be selfish in the way that we care about our own health and life and that of those we cherish: family, friends and colleagues is perfectly OK, normal and also christian (although usually EZR doesn't mention religion that often) 

What is not OK is to trust people who are obviously somehow stuck in medieval times and who not only believe in superstition, weird conspiracies wild speculations themselves, but who are feeling obviously obliged to convince others to ignore a proven mass casualty disease as they are. Some of those ignorant people who got 'caught by the virus' themselves and developed COVID-19 and survived even upholding their irrational believes that this all must be a gigantic hoax, The virus isn't real because it's too small to be visible to the human naked eye and all microscopes have to be manipulated by either Mr Soros or Mr Gates to fool the entire mankind. There are no viruses at all and people who acknowledge the fact that those do exist then claim that the SARSCoV2 is just another flu virus and won't be that dangerous. If it is that dangerous however it must be invented by the Chinese to harm just the entire rest of the world. Would anybody in his/her right mind claim that there are no car accidents and therefore we should abandon safety belts ? Speaking of 'right mind': How do we categorize people who claim: "I see a white African elephant running through this shopping center, can't you see it ? There it went into Walmart ! Why don't you believe me ? Are you my friend or my enemy ?" The question for society as whole which must be answered is how to identify mental dysfunction / illusions generated by the human brain obviously so real to the person while all other persons' brain just function normally and rely on visual input by their pair of eyes ? Do we intervene by phoning 911 and ask for medical professionals to treat such a person although he/she isn't threatening other people with a knife, firearm, or just with his/her fists ? 

Would a medical examination / brain scan be the very least thing society should 'offer' such people before their impaired visual & 'straight' processing of signals get out of hand and they start to endanger others, or do we just qualify him/her as "Come on he/she is nuts and let's fuhget about iit" ? What will happen to society of those with undetected mental health problems start their own TV stations or political parties in order to convince large parts of society that their reliance on their own eyes/ears/other senses as well as upon previously obtained scientific knowledge is wrong and only the 'reality of the preacher man' is right?     

Coming back to politics 2020 we have to go back and ask what defines a political party and its members: The fact that it's a political program, an agenda, a vision for government, a mix of policies concerning different aspects of society and affecting different ministries. An agenda based of course on reality and facts and not on just one man's or woman's opinion. There are party gatherings where the next agenda, the program on how to govern the next time the voter puts the party in charge of the country. There are often long traditions as well relatively new items on the agenda, which often make sense because society also changes and needs perhaps new/adapted answers. A complex and well-thought and approved agenda can't normally be replaced by "whatever our grand leader thinks is right at any given moment". "Normally" would mean when there are politicians not being held in bondage to their "national leader of divine wisdom". "Normally" means a modern, Western democracy and not e.g. North Korea, where things work differently. Speaking of North Korea: There is a very tight media control which is 100% in line what their national leader determined to be right. Although as far a one can tell even the leadership of North Korea is based more in reality than large parts of the American right, because they acknowledge the existence and danger of this new type of Coronavirus and they try to prevent a spillover to their country. We don't know how successful their containment efforts are, but they and also the Chinese leadership are definitely not proclaiming this new virus to be just a hoax !

Coming back to the president-elect Joe Biden and the prospects of putting America back on track not just regarding public health issues but of a whole range of other policy issues as well. Back on track in the sense of "normally" (explained in the previous paragraph) . People in Europe usually don't object to much to differences in the two American big parties: Democrats and Republicans, because so far it hasn't changed the transatlantic 'fundamentals' and even during those rather weird last four years there have been moments which showed that a GOP dominated Congress still doesn't abandon its tradional allies. The voted several times along with their colleagues from the Democratic party to uphold the NATO alliance and its values and that kept hope alive in Europe and also elsewhere.  We knew all the time that at least approximately half of the United States didn't accept the atrocious administration 45 and we also sensed that many even this administration did at last try to prevent even larger catastrophes. We dared to hope that four years of chaos and dismantling of America's real strength would not go unnoticed and voter support in 2020 would be limited to just a 'base' of about 25-30% of all voters. Instead we have seen that the support for policies based on grievances, revenge, cruelty and racism was much greater than previously anticipated. That needs to be addressed starting from the next inauguration of president Biden, however we also noticed that the next president enjoys the support of more than 80 million voters and for the next four years at least we can expect a return to normality in transatlantic relations. There was always the hope that actions like leaving the Paris agreement will get reversed once a different person will be put in charge by the voters. A democrat or even a Republican politician who would have still been attached to facts and reality like those senators who have chosen to throw the towel. We didn't look down to the United States, but more felt like pity for the nation which was always great since the second World War was won for a large part through American industrial power as well as dedication of their men and women in uniform.  

We look forward to a nation back on its tracks and in harmony with our European values which have been restored initially by the United States by kicking out the Nazi forces which occupied almost the whole European continent. We believed or started in the believe of the rule of law, universal human rights and so forth and we despised detention camps, children being used as weapon to torture their parents and so on. We all despise bullying and autocrats and believe in the continuity of our states' heritage of individual right for everyone. We believe in science but we also offer freedom of expression and worship and we used to fight vicious Nazi & Communist propaganda which intended to sow distrust/discord and to weaken our believe in our 'way of life'. To undermine the trust in our foundation of our states, where governments get elect every couple of years and which can get punished by the voters when they didn't perform well. That's how our system works and we learned the hard way what happens when we 'trust' just one strong man and him thinking to know it all better than all others (among them numerous experts of their field) and that all other persons must accept his 'divine wisdom'. Too often such persons whose determination is strong and their universal knowledge, or even ability to process data properly are rather limited, result in a catastrophe for not just their own nation but also for many other nations as well. They often ended in death and destruction and in suppression of humans. Sowing distrust in elections should be reserved only for regimes who don't trust the system of check and balances and the principle that individuals determine who is going to put in charge of government. They may have contempt for our way of seld-determination even when results may less fortunate than the wisest of all repressive regimes. We should not accept attempts to undermine our system without a fight and we in Europe took note of the fact that the majority of American citizens chose to fight back, among them many principled, real conservatives.

Many people in Europe, not just politicians, are relieved and EZR doesn't share the pessimism that it will be hard to revive the Transatlantic relationship. Both sides are eager to correct mistakes and to return to 'business as usual', because we have lived in horror during the last couple of years. The intention was to divide us and it's good that this intention by our adversaries failed and we shouldn't ever forget that those attempts have been made and are possible when not more precautions are being taken. The United States must repair their system of check and balances to make sure that only people who basically could get a security clearance in other organisations will be allowed near the office of the presidency and we Europeans have to stay on course on increasing our fair share of defense spending and not to lay back and to rely on the American taxpayer to compensate for our shortcomings. We Europeans shouldn't be so foolish to think that we don't need the Americans for our common defense or for even achieving environmental goals. The temporary partial withdraw of the United States should have made that clear. Furthermore a complete analysis of: "What went wrong ?" would possibly come to the conclusion that it's not sufficient to thoroughly screen candidates before they are being put on ballot for the highest office of the land, but to change some elements which have been abused several times so far for avoiding drastic consequences when committing crimes during the time public servants stayed in office: The pardon power for alleged conspirators in and around the White House, a possible danger anticipated very early on, but still not being taken of yet:

We Europeans shouldn't just welcome back our American friends, but we should now finally also counter the toxic propaganda which threaten our democratic systems at both sides of the Atlantic. There's nothing wrong to offer Americans who are currently enjoying anti-factual propaganda an alternative which offer those who are interested a window into European matters for instance our growing reliance on alternative forms of energy which have proven to be stable and reliable for at least two decades. We should establish more contacts between our nations by exchange programs e.g. also for farmers and other people living in rural areas who otherwise don't know their counterparts from the other continent. We shouldn't leave those hard-working Americans to charlatans who depend on 'mental isolation' of their viewers/listeners/readers and who will have a hard time trying to implant 'their kind of reality' into minds of those who have first hand experiences with 'Swedish or Dutch communists'<irony alert>. Learning by doing - that welfare states also rely for a large part on private capital and private enterprises, and that 'communist states' like Sweden, The Netherlands, France, Spain and so forth also have stock markets and banks, and that achievements like social security and public health care system have absolutely nothing to do with Cuba, Venezuela, China the former Soviet Union and so on. Canadians can do their part to convince Americans still stuck in Fox News 'virtual reality' to show those people that there is freedom and a good life beyond the fear mongering of Tucker Carlson and Co. We shouldn't hesitate to at least try to break the vicious spiral down the drain of 'sanity' which leads many people to believe in ever more outlandish stuff distributed by Alex Jones and Qanon which happens to be almost 100% the outlandish stuff being distributed by state propaganda channels of the Russian Federation. Back to reality and 'pro-life' even after birth which should especially include the elder generation threatened by SarsCoV2.   

When large parts of the American public will get back to just normal policies like balanced budgets or subsidy free exports, or even to increased 'law and order' or any other subject which is considered to be a 'conservative policy' like those believes held by politicians like Ronald Reagan, the Bush family, Arnold Schwarzenegger,  John McCain, Bob Corker and others who didn't get absorbed into Tucker Carlson, Qanon and other 'parallel universes' on two feet. We should also think hard about the role of the media besides reporting of politics and uncovering hidden scandals and wrong doing. We shouldn't leave obvious propaganda to a hand full of propagandists who inspire politicians to drop reasonable points of view in favor of simple,rage filled policies/slogans like 'kill the pig!' ("Lord of the flies",W. Golding) A society of radicalized people detached from the rather boring reality of real world problems whose desire for 'blood' will ultimately result in cannibalism, just like those young boys who got stuck on an uninhabited island and over time some of them lost all their previously existing 'British' manners and they descended into tribalism, superstition and murder. It won't work to appeal on the responsibility or 'conscience' of those instigators of rage. We have to be successful not only in achieving economic and other stability , but also in selling those often under-recognized achievements. For now we can all enjoy the promises of a new administration taking care of the United States from January 20th 2021, but we all shouldn't forget to make some adjustments either. We should aim to bring more and broader knowledge to also rural parts of our country and we shouldn't rely on 1% super high educated 'elite' and perhaps 50% or more with only very basic education. First hand knowledge can be an antidote to becoming radicalized by ambitious charlatans who exploit the weakness of those who lack the facts or simply currently don't have access to proper education. We all can accept differences of opinions within the United States' political spectrum or between any new other US administration and European governments, but we can't afford to have 'alternative facts' pushed by some people obviously living in other spheres. Discussions about what a thermometer reads in degrees measured in Celsius or Fahrenheit which are based on 'facts' that measuring temperatures are 'forbidden by God' or thermometers are generally tempered by Soros are pointless. Gauges and science in general is not blasphemy. We should not follow pundits who are willing to 'alter' facts either pro- or anti measures against climate change and we should all learn how to stick to the facts and have civilized discussions again in order to not to steer our societies on a hidden underwater cliff. We should strive for consuming just 'boring' information such as numbers, pure facts and fight the human impulse to follow the most exiting and enraging 'info' which could be either authentic or just produced intentionally in order to enrage and divide us and over time create possibilities for exploiting our divisions. We should all seek accurate, verifiable information and fight both the impulse to react to it immediately before sufficient amounts of info from various sources and/or experts has been gathered and should be very suspicious of people who try to amplify our own convictions or even worse: our grievances/fears. Our attention span is only limited and we should at least try not get sucked into an orbit of people full of rage expression and finger pointing and constantly busy seeking our attention. 

We in Europe should recognize that parts of the United States have taken action against climate change even earlier than we did in Europe and not see the U.S. as one 'Republican block' united behind their current president. One example is California's efforts to limit the use of 'conventional' automobiles from 2035.We have every reason to be cheerful now that president-elect Biden has made climate change a priority and he couldn't have found better qualified person than John Kerry, however we shouldn't demonize rural folks either who live and work in other parts of the United States who were traditionally thankful to have natural resources like gas, oil and coal and who are to the present convinced that 'communists' are keen to see the all getting unemployment benefits instead of their current jobs. We have to be merciful and try to oppose the views of some charlatans in the media and politics who try, so far successfully, to convince those hard-working people that such 'liberals' or 'lefties' seek to destroy the old-fashioned coal industry while in reality the market forces of ever cheaper alternatives like wind or solar polar are in fact driving coal-fired power plants out of business. Like the motor-powered automobile once replaced the horses and carriages in urban and rural areas or motorized high powered and versatile farming machines like tractors replaced traditional horses and manpower in agriculture, it's worth remembering that neither traditional American party ever proclaimed:"Ban cars!"or "ban tractors!". Society and the economy constantly changes and those who think it's worth advocating a standstill should think twice, since the World doesn't stop and changes will have to take place even in so far largely isolated countries like North Korea, where even their leaders haven't been as radical as the Khmer Rouge movement,which tried to enforce a radical and simple society of peasants ans uneducated people, and at least in some urban areas there are a lot of modern achievements to be seen. As we don't blame the victims of the Khmer Rouge for ultimately getting killed by their nonintellectual oppressors we shouldn't blame the parts of the American public who are subjected to heavy indoctrination by those who also want some kind of 'anti-elite' society where those advocating standstill and isolation ("America first") are just seeking to profit for themselves. (be it in advertisement revenue) No, most Europeans aren't so dumb to fall for the assumption that the elected leader of country represents all of his/her citizens and therefore all have to be considered 'bad people' especially when it gets clear over time that some people on the very top are busy provoking negative reactions all the time. As with martial arts we should prefer evading the attacker and wait for him to get tired or even better: replaced. We endured exhausting 4 years and now the time is near for a much more pragmatic and much less exhausting politics. The time comes for the 'united empire' to strike back. United pragmatists and reasonable people from both sides of the Atlantic prepared for undoing most, if not all, damage done over the last couple of years.

There has been some damage to the traditional American-European partnership and perhaps 'civilized economic rivalry' ('Airbus vs Boeing') , but we have seen that we can't afford another 'lose-lose' situation and instead must seek more European engagement in the US by investments ('plants') as well as cultural and knowledge exchange and by more European efforts of burden sharing in regard of defense matters. A constant threat of abolishing NATO altogether - or of a full or substantial withdrawal of US forces shouldn't be necessary. The next president Biden as well as still shell-shocked Europeans will both secure a renewed Euro-Atlantic partnership and a reversal of mutual tariffs on a range of products which were imposed in a tit for tat 'tariff war' based on the initial philosophy of "America 1st - Europeans (& Asians for that matter) are ripping us off !" Perhaps after a mutual realization of what could actually go fundamentally wrong will lead to a new era of more 'synchronized' approach and will perhaps lead to a new FTA agreement like the CETA agreement between Canada and the EU, once the main short term objective - getting rid of the COVID-19 danger - has been achieved perhaps already in the second half of 2021. Both the United States and Europe have to overcome this terrible pandemic which isn't immediately over once the first portions of vaccines are being administered. A new president who doesn't deny the existence or the dangers of Sars-CoV2 would be great opportunity to combine forces and resources against the virus. 

By combining our resources, relying again on science and our best experts we can overcome first this terrible pandemic and later other challenges. Towards a bright, democratic future based on reason, science, human rights, rule of law, prosperity and all other values most common people of the globe are overtly or covertly also strive for. We should never ever again accept and/or seek authoritarian 'values' for our free societies ! 

Hint: there's a reason why so many people from all other areas of the planet are prepared to risk their lives in order to migrate to / to seek shelter in the USA, Canada or some EU member states. 

And because today it's Thanksgiving in the United States we in Europe simply have to express our gratitude: 

Thank you very much, you responsible American voters and we're looking forward to cooperate with your upcoming new Biden / Harris administration.  






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