Hi David, I've read both these articles ("American Genie" and the HCQ article) and appreciate your ability to condense information into highly readable pieces.
"American Genie": We are faced with a situation where we lack certain crucial pieces of information, but can slowly gather facts and reduce the "unknowns". Who knew that the famous government lab Fort Detrick had been shockingly closed down (with a "cease and desist" order) in July 2019 due to shoddy standards two weeks after residents in a care home in the same city started showing (what would now be recognised as) possible COVID symptoms? No need to even connect the events: both events are interesting in and of themselves. From this landscape, one produces a plausible explanation which can then compete with other explanations: the reader should be trusted to weigh up possibilities and salient facts and draw their own conclusions. In weighing up the contesting theories, we should subject them to a series of questions and carefully assess the answers. To paraphrase Thomas Pynchon: "If people can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers." Questions - the right questions - are crucial. Your theory "leaves less questions to answer", as you say. Anyhow, let others who would contest it pose their own theory and answer as many questions as can be thrown at their version. Your journalism is as valid as any other: the question to ask is why your journalism would be rejected by The Guardian and the NYT?
"HCQ article": An excellent summary. As a reasonable French speaker I've followed a number of Prof Raoult's interviews with interest. You ask all the pointed questions that need asking. You link to Pepe Escobar's article on French administration player Levy, the "removal" of all HCQ from France's central hospital pharmacy and the demonisation of Raoult and the way his early protocol is ignored and replaced by (useless) late protocol. To be read in conjunction with your article.
This week you have Boris Johnson praising and donating to Bill and Melinda's foundation GAVI, with all focus on encouraging and funding Pharma to develop a vaccine. I have no problem with successful, tried-and-tested vaccine - but has there ever been a successful long-term vaccine for a corona virus? Perhaps this will be the first. West is competing with China and Russia. "Chinese vaccine will be available to the world and affordable" http://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20200518-chinese-coronavirus-vaccine-will-be-available-to-all-chinese-president https://tass.com/society/1114015
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In other news, Madagascar's President is using the herbal "version" of hydroxychloriquine - artemesia annua - to fight COVID19. He's rolled out production and distributed it widely: only 7 deaths in Madagascar thus far. Now exporting to certain other African countries.
This remedy is widely used in Africa as an anti-malarial and anti-fever, drunk as a tea several times a day. As a prophylactic and (like HCQ) an *early* protocol
Try and buy Artemesinin in the west, impossible to find! (Artemisia Vulgaris is widely available in western stores but is the incorrect version - Arte annua or afra is correct).