Too good to pass up:
Skepticism of official accounts around COVID and outright conspiracy theories have been intermingled almost since the pandemic began.
The skeptics will emphasize how the lab leak theory was once marginalized and derided — only to gain credence over time. They will also note, as TV host Jon Stewart did in 2021, that the conventional wisdom once seemed to overrun common sense.
During an appearance on CBS’s “Late Show” with Stephen Colbert in June 2021, Stewart drew a comparison between the situation in Wuhan — which has several key labs, including the Wuhan Institute of Virology — to an American city synonymous with chocolate.
“‘Oh, my God, there’s been an outbreak of chocolaty goodness near Hershey, Pa. What do you think happened?’” Stewart said. “Like, ‘Oh I don’t know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean?’ Or it’s the [expletive] chocolate factory! Maybe that’s it?”
https://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...ab-leak-story/
It’s fine to say everything is possible - it generally is - but generally Occam’s razor says the most likely thing is really the most likely. One estimate of REPORTED lab breaches in BSL-3 labs runs to 0.2 occurrences per year and while one woukd HOPE BSL-4 labs would be better, documented breaches in their labs are certainly not uncommon. The USAMRIID BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs at Ft Derrick MD had their work curtailed for over half a year a few years ago because of problems with their physical plant and sterilization procedures:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/...t-detrick.html