A Retrospective of Another Opinion's Top Articles for 2022

Starting with our first article on Another Opinion, published back in 2005, we have done a year end review of our most popular top articles. It's an opportunity to review what was trending at the time and what you, our dear readers, was most interested in.  In keeping with that tradition, we will start with number five.

COVID has been with us for what seems an eternity, and with it Dr. Anthony Fauci, the CDC, and the never ending vaccines. Also tied to Dr. Fauci and COVID was whether was (or is) any relationship between the Chinese and the origin of the COVID virus, as well as its possible weaponization against the West. 

We also took a look at the profits being made off the vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and BioNTech which equated to a total of $93.5 million dollars every single day (or to put it in perspective, $65,000 every minute of every day). Lastly, we examined the possibility that these vaccines would morph into some kind of government control along the lines of new form of police state (no vaccination card no admission to grocery store or no job).

Our fourth article covered similar ground except the focus was on the obscene profits Big Pharma was making, not just on the COVID vaccines, but on ordinary prescriptions and healthcare in general. As we just covered in our most recent article, the U.S. healthcare system is ranked among the worst of all the developed nations in the world. We have the fewest available hospital beds, the highest medical costs, highest infant mortality rates, and lowest life expectancy of any industrialized nation.   

If that wasn't bad enough, nearly 2/3 of Congress (that's the House and Senate) gets money from Big Pharma. $7.1 million went to Republicans while Democrats received $6.6 million. Meanwhile, in 2021 Big Pharma spent an additional $263 million dollars to lobby Congress!  Also, because of cutbacks in government funding, Big Pharma now provides the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) with 75% of its drug review funding.

So what did they get for their money? How about no capping of drug prices, more control over what your physician prescribes, limiting the time your doctor gets to spend with you, and higher hospital bills for shorter stays. They also got more restrictions on converting higher cost "name brand" drugs into cheaper generic counterparts (under federal law, lower cost prescription medication has to be issued over the more expensive brand names unless there is a medical reason that would prevent a substitute).

Finally, Big Pharma has continued to step up its marketing of many drugs directly to public in order to encourage potential patients to request specific medication and boost sales. Big Pharma also expanded its all out offensive against holistic healthcare (common in Asia, Africa and Latin America).

This also includes preventative treatments and homeopathic healthcare which is an accepted practice in Europe and most of the world.  The outcome would be to make an already dependent and overmedicated population ever more dependent on what some call "controlled poisons" when discussing most prescriptions.

Our third most popular article was about Cancel Culture and the fight against freedom of expression and speech (among others).  Talk show host Joe Rogan made a comment on one of his podcast about disapproving of Biden's call for mandatory mask usage and requiring everyone to get COVID vaccines. It was just his personal opinion. Well that started a "firestorm" of protests from the Left. Apparently Rogan's comments weren't "politically correct". 

The Cancel Culture tries its level best to shame, bully, or intimidate anyone who says or does something which happens to offend them that day. Unfortunately they've been somewhat successful, causing individuals, groups, or even occasionally a corporation to back off. A few have even hired "consultants" to help them make sure that they're content is "PC"!

Nevertheless, the ultimate result has been to make individuals and others hesitant about what they say or do out of fear of backlash. It has caused people to measure everything they say or do. Libraries and bookstores have stopped carrying certain books or carry sanitized version of them. Same goes for movies.

Some TV stations will air censored version of movies or not broadcast older movies because of how some groups were portrayed or because all the actors were white; there were no individuals "of color". No so-called "diversity". But, at the same time, certain radio stations will play songs which encourages rape, violence, murder (especially of police officers) and just about every other depravity you can imagine and call it creative "entertainment" or racial expression. Heck, they even give out awards for this garbage!

It's reminiscent of Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia or China's "Culture Revolution" in 1966 under Mao Zedong. Whatever the state or party disapproved of was deemed as not socially acceptable (ie: not "politically correct"). As a result, certain books and movies were forbidden or destroyed while radio stations and newspapers were ransacked or shut down with thousands beaten, jailed, or murdered.  

Businesses were boycotted and many were fired from their jobs for holding "contrary" ideological positions. Some individuals were labeled "social misfits" or a threat to the state and sent to "reeducation camps" (a euphemism used for concentration camps). The horror of Kristallnacht (or "Night of Broken Glass") was borne out of this mentality. 

There are lots of things I don't like, disagree with, or disapprove of, be it movies, books, music, or media content. However, in a truly free society, each of us have the right to freedom of speech and expression. If I have an issue with it, I simply walk away, turn the channel, or don't buy what they're selling. It's me exercising my freedom of association and using the power of the marketplace.

Our second most popular article for 2022 was the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Our focus was on why President Putin invaded his southern neighbor. There's been a long history between Russia and Ukraine dating back to the Kievan Rus in 832, but that didn't spark the invasion.

Following the end of WWII, Soviet Russia created a buffer state composed of Eastern European nations it had liberated from the Nazis and pro-Nazis. It was Stalin's intention that Russia would never again be threatened by the West (Sweden's King Charles XII in 1707, Napoleon had invaded in 1812 and Hitler in 1941). However, with the USSR's implosion starting in 1989, these states were left to their destinies.

In 1990 then President Mikhail Gorbachev was assured by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would "not advance one inch eastward", and yet by the end of the 20th Century, all of them belonged to NATO. This meant the Russia faced NATO tanks, troops, ships, and missiles all along its western frontier. The one exception was Ukraine, which at the time included the valuable Crimea with Russia's second largest military and naval bases at Sevastopol on the Black Sea.  It also had something else. Vast oil and gas resources.

The United States and some EU countries helped orchestrate a coup to remove President Petro Poroshenko and his pro-Moscow government with pro-Western Volodymyr Zelenskyy (to help "spread democracy" no doubt).  Some claim that in exchange for Western support a deal was made for access to the oil and gas rich Black Sea.

Almost immediately Zelenskyy began saber rattling about full membership in NATO, which, if granted, would completely surround Russia on the west and put Sevastopol not only in danger, but would threaten Russia's access to the Mediterranean Sea.  Putin continued to warn Ukraine, the West, and the United States that NATO in Ukraine would not be tolerated.

When it became apparent that NATO would approve Ukraine's application for full admission, Russia moved to secure the Crimea and protect its military installations, as well as its control of its oil and gas reserves. When that failed to make Ukraine back off, Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, the world has turned against Putin (with one lone exception, the Belarus).

Meanwhile, despite a full court press, Russian troops have failed to fully subjacent Ukraine which has militarily exhausted the former Super Power. As a result, Russian troops have focused on securing the pro-Russian Donbas provinces in Eastern Ukraine.  How this war will turn out is anybody's guess.

Some are predicting an eventual chemical, biological, or tactical nuclear strike, which seems unlikely. Others suggest a coup against Putin, which is possibility. There have been massive protests throughout Russia and a growing unrest among senior officers in the Russian military while in Ukraine, thanks to Western media and U.S. public relations and marketing firms, Zelenskyy has achieved near mythic status. Meanwhile, Western (mostly U.S.) energy companies are keeping a close eye on events.

Finally, our most viewed article for 2022 was, in part, about the sudden and dramatic rise in food and gas prices, but at its core it was about the growing power of the Corporatocracy and ruling Oligarchy which has seized control of America.

We pointed out how just five corporations control over 95% of everything you read, watch, or hear. It even controls your entertainment, from music and movies to video games. We discussed how four companies control practically everything (65%) we buy at the store, from clothes and electronics to food. 

We told you that four corporations own 85% of all meat processed in America while three controlled 66% of all pork.  just 15 cent of every dollar spent went to the farmer (most food production, however, comes from giant corporate farms owned by mega corporations, which are heavily subsided by the government.  When it comes to fertilizers, 65.8% of the market is owned by four companies.

Take a look at technology. Only five companies own 80% of the market. When it comes to energy---oil and gas mainly---a relatively small group runs it all, while suppressing alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.  Meanwhile, there's only about 30 companies which totally dominate the our financial markets.  Globally, they are about a dozen. Most of them are Chinese owned.

These companies are part of (indeed the core of) the global Corporatocracy which runs the world. They certainly run the government of the United States. It's senior board members are part of ruling oligarchy (or as some prefer, kleptocracy) that call the shots in Congress, the White House, and the Judicial system. Their lobbyists write our laws that we are told to obey.  It has nothing to do with "socialism" or "communism", although those names are bandied about to make us fear them. Why? Because they fear the people---us.

We've provided a link to these articles below so you can re-read them or perhaps read them for the first time in the same order as above.  We hope you found these, as well as our others articles informative and useful. Ever since our first article was published in July of 2005, we've tried our best to provide you, our dear readers, with accurate non-partisan information. No slant. Just facts. We even include links to our sources in case you want to delve deeper.

If you enjoy our work, please pass it along. We don't have a marketing department and therefore depend on you to help spread the word. We also ask that you "like" us on whatever platform you're using so our articles can stay in front of people. A lot of these platforms don't like what we have to say since it goes against their corporate line (toeing the line has never been one of my strong suits).

Finally, we would like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Another Opinion. We sincerely couldn't do it without your help. Have a happy, healthy, and safe New Year in 2023. Take care everyone.

 

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Dr. Fauci: The Man, Myth,Legend...and Schemer?

Big Pharma: A Monopoly in Need of a Cure

Joe Rogan and Cancel Culture: Freedom For Some But Not All

Understanding the Real Reason Why Russia Invaded the Ukraine

 

Who Wants to Play Monopoly?

 

 

Dr. Fauci: The Man, Myth, Legend...and Schemer?

 

As we near the third year of the Covid pandemic, there is no doubt that when the history of this epoch is written, the name of Dr. Fauci will be front and center. But, having said that, what do we know about this man who has had more influence on Americans, and perhaps the world, than any individual in decades?

For many, Dr. Fauci is the "white knight" coming to save civilization from some pestilence, be it natural or manmade. For others, he's closer to one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.  Either way, Dr. Fauci has played a key role in shaping domestic policy while further dividing Americans. Maybe it's time we pull back the curtains and take a look at Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci.

Anthony Stephen Fauci was born on Christmas Eve 1940 in Brooklyn, New York, making him 81 years old. His grandparents emigrated from Italy in the late 1800's; his paternal grandparents from Sciacca and his maternal grandparents from Naples.

He was (naturally) raised Catholic, but has since become a Humanist (he was named "Humanist of the Year" in 2021 by the American Humanist Association). His father, Stephen, was a Columbia University educated pharmacist. His mother and sister worked at the family's pharmacy directly below their apartment.

Fauci attended the private Jesuit Regis High School before going on to attend the College of the Holy Cross where he majored in classical studies with a pre-med emphasis. After graduating in 1962 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, he went on to Cornell Medical College (now known as Weill Cornell Medicine) and graduated top in his class in 1966 with a Doctor of Medicine.  He then interned in internal medicine at New York Medical Hospital---Cornell Medical Center (Weill Cornell Medical Center).

From there he went to work at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where he was a clinical associate at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Laboratory of Clinical Investigations.  By 1974 he was head of their Clinical Physiology Section. In 1980 he was named chief of NIAID's Laboratory of Immunoregulation.

In January of 2020, he was appointed to President Trump's task force in dealing with the Covid-19 virus and served as the de facto spokesman. At the time he said the virus wasn't a "major threat" to the public, and the overall risk to the average American was "low". In March he predicted that the infection rate would be around 1%, which was still around ten times that of the annual flu.

In that role he routinely testified before numerous Congressional committees and subcommittees on the effectiveness of various strategies to contain the spreading Covid-19 virus. In December 2021, Dr. Fauci was appointed to President-elect Joe Biden's administration as the Chief Medical Advisor to the President, where he currently remains and oversees efforts to deal with the virus.

According to his biography, Dr. Fauci has been a leader in the study and treatment of numerous infectious diseases such as Ebola, AIDs/HIV, SARS, Swine Flu, and, of course, COVID-19, among many others. In the process, he's received several awards, including the Ernst Jung Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Robert Koch Prize. I have no doubt that at some point he'll receive the devalued Nobel Peace Prize in Medicine (the Nobel Peace Prize lost much of its esteem when it was given to President Obama in 2015 for doing absolutely nothing).  

As if it couldn't get any better, Dr. Fauci holds 12 patents dealing with immunology (mainly HIV related), which is his specialty.  But doesn't he also own or have an interest in the vaccines pertaining to the COVID virus, particularly Moderna? That's what Robert Kennedy Jr. has alleged, but is it true?

Kennedy had claimed the Fauci invested $500 million dollars into the Moderna vaccine, and thus owns half of the patent. He went to say that Fauci and "the five guys who work for him" were therefore entitled to receive royalties.  Later, Kennedy amended his statement and claimed that the National Institutes of Health, which is the parent of NIAID where Fauci worked, owned half the Moderna patent.

However, according the NIH's  director, Dr. Francis Collins, it's possible that the NIH may own some intellectual property rights which was used in the development of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine, no percentage or financial amount has been put forward.

The NIH did acknowledge that there is a pending scientific paper by four NIH immunologist who have filed a patent application for a 2019-nCoV vaccine which is currently pending. However, Dr. Fauci's name is not among the four applicants. Furthermore, if the patent is granted, these four scientists are prohibited by federal law from receiving more than $150,000 in royalties each per year.

So, hopefully that clears up the misnomer of Fauci owning stake in any of the Covid-19 vaccines. But that leaves the question, what does he have an financial interests in and how must does he make a year? Let's take his salary first.

Dr. Fauci, as director of the NIAID, and his wife, Christine Grady, who is the chief bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, earn a combined salary of $668,312.00 annually, which ain't exactly chump change.  They have investment gains of around $794,369.00 which includes stocks, bonds, and money market portfolios for 2020.

Their investments are broadly held, meaning no specific investments in pharmaceutical companies, including those directly involved with the Covid-19 vaccine.  Dr. Fauci's total investment account for the same year was about $8.4 million. His wife's was  $2.1 million. With some couponing, I think they'll get by.

Fauci does have a stake in a San Francisco restaurant by the name of "Jackson Fillmore" of somewhere between $1000 and $15,000. However, according to their financial disclosure statements, they've not earned any income from this investment in 2019 or 2020.

Dr. Fauci has earned about $100,000 in royalties and professional reimbursements, most from editing medical textbooks.  Included in that $100,000 was travel reimbursements of $6328.00 for attending a board meeting of McGraw Hill Publishing Company.

Lastly are the various perks and pension benefits.  Fauci's disclosure statement estimate the value to be somewhere around $200,500.00. According to a Forbes report, when Dr. Fauci retires, he will receive a retirement pension of $350,000. Thus, in conclusion of his finances, it appears that Dr. Fauci and his wife made only $1.7 million in 2020, which by Washington standards is pretty much chump change.

When I decided to investigate Dr. Fauci, I wasn't sure what to expect. From everything I've read and seen online, he was a typical duplicitous Washington schemer of the kind we've come to expect and accept of professional politicians and their ilk.

According to the various articles, Dr. Fauci owned the patents to the Covid-19 vaccines, or stock in the companies which made the vaccines, or was directed involved with providing research pertaining to the virus to the Chinese, and so forth. However, no such verifiable information was discovered. Of course, that still doesn't mean he couldn't exert some more subtle forms of influence.

Dr. Fauci does own mutual funds and other forms of investments, but none are directly connected to any of manufactures of the Covid-19 vaccines. There's nothing to indicate that Dr. Fauci has or had direct personal contact with the Chinese regarding the Covid virus, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of the National Institutes of Health or personnel within one of its 27 different subsidiaries or indirect contact via emails or reviews  with individuals who do.

Having said that, there's no question that companies like Pfizer, Moderna, and BioNTech aren't making money off the vaccines. You can bet they're raking it in as are those who provide medical mask, gloves, hoses, ventilation equipment, and other medical supplies.

As an aside, Pfizer, Moderna and BioNTech make around $65,000 (combined) per minute off the Covid-9 vaccines (or a combined $93.5 million per day every day).  They've received over $8 billion dollars from taxpayers and expect to make pre-tax profits of $34 billion dollars while producing five new billionaires with a combined net worth of $35.1 billion dollars.

There's also the strong likelihood that Dr. Fauci either knows or is familiar with individuals within these companies. I would be shocked if he wasn't. It's a relatively small and close knit industry, especially at the level he operates in, but I don't see any no guilt by association. Before I retired, I was the senior legal manager for a receivables company and I knew or knew of hundreds of attorneys, credit managers, law lists, and people in the legal field around the world. The thing about specialization is that it makes for a generally small professional world.  

There's no doubt, at least in my mind, that the Covid-19 virus is a intentionally weaponized version of the flu or that it was intentionally "leaked" on the general population by or with the implicit consent of the Chinese government with the full knowledge that tens of thousands or even millions of Chinese would die as a byproduct. "Collateral damage" I believe is the sanitized term for it. There is no doubt that Covid-19 is in any way a naturally occurring virus.

To date over 5.5 million worldwide have died, but to a determined foe, that's a small price to pay to destabilize the world's economies (particularly the United States), while making a huge profit selling the cure to disease it created. Better yet, the virus will continue to morph and spin off variants like Omicron. Thus providing a unending source of revenue while continuing to weaken ideological opponents and killing off the weakest among us. It sounds cold, and it is. But remember that Chairman Mao was responsible for murdering over 48 million people as part of his "Great Leap Forward".

It also doesn't surprise me that the more insidious elements here at home have used the occasion to further encroach on our individual freedoms. America is, after all, a "soft fascist" Corporatocracy managed by a small but obscenely wealthy clique of oligarchs. We've become a de facto surveillance state overseen by this corporate-government partnership.

We're just one crisis, real or manufactured, from a police state. What better than a unending health crisis, especially one which results in promoting hostilities between divergent ideological, religious, ethnic, and racial groups for and against "mandates for our own good"?

I seriously doubt Dr. Fauci is part of any such cabal. While immensely talented and well educated, he's merely a bit player playing out his role with honorable intentions I believe. Besides, his relatively low wealth would preclude his membership among the ruling class. To use a Star Wars analogy, Dr. Fauci may serve the Empire, but he's not of the Empire.

If you want to know more, please take a look at the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on Facebook or whatever platform you use to read A/O. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation.

 

Patents by  Inventor Anthony S. Fauci

Fact Check: SARS-CoV2 was not created using genes from HIV, Fauci does not hold patents for 'HIV component' to SARs-CoV2

8-170 submitted by Dr. Moehanid Talia

Conspiracy theorist spreads false claim about Fauci,patents, and COVID-19

Does Anthony Fauci Own "Half the Patent' for Moderna COVID Vaccine?

 

Disclosures Show Dr. Fauci's Household Made $1.7 Million in 2020, Including Income, Royalties, Travel Perks, and Investment Gains

Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna making $1000 profit every second while world's poorest countries remain largely unvaccinated

 

 

 

 

Big Pharma: A Monopoly in Need of a Cure

 In last week's article we discussed some of the monopolies which dominate the American economy, and by extension, Congress, the Judiciary, and the Presidency.  While powerful, especially the financial sector, perhaps none are currently more powerful than Big Pharma. Just how big and powerful?

While we get to that in just a moment, but consider this. 70% of all Americans are dependant in some way, be it medicine or medical equipment, on what Big Pharma says we need. For the majority of that 70%, what they receive is critical to their overall health and even their very survival.

So, just who is "Big Pharma" anyway? Names such as Bayer, Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson are household names we're familiar with, particularly thanks to the Covid pandemic. However, many others are simply unknown except through their products which are extensively marketed.

 Starting in reverse order with the tenth largest and most influential global pharmaceutical company (all revenue is from 2020) is Sonfi, the French manufacturer of Zantac, Plavix, and Ambien, reported just over $41 billion dollars in revenue. Next is Pfizer, whose revenue was about $42 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb racked up $42.5 billion dollars. GlaxoSmithKline was seventh with $43.5 billion dollars.

In sixth place was Janssen, which is part of Johnson and Johnson. Their revenue in 2020 was $45.5 billion dollars. AbbVie, the maker of Humira, made $45.8 billion dollars. Merck earned a under $48 billion. Novartis, a Swiss producer of drugs such as Ritalin, earned its shareholders $48.6 billion dollars. Second place belongs to Roche Pharmaceuticals (a division of the Roche Group), manufacturer of Valium, and also a Swiss company. It's revenue for 2020 was a staggering $49.5 billion dollars.

Finally, the top earner in 2020 was a state owned Chinese company named Sinopharm, whose revenue was $50.4 billion dollars. Sinopharm is headquartered in Beijing China. It's official name is the China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation, a holding company for China National Pharmaceutical Corporation, China National Pharmaceutical Industry Corporation, the China National Pharmaceutical  Foreign Trade Corporation, and the China National Medical Device Corporation.

 In 2009, Sinopharm merged with China National Biotec Group. You may be more familiar with their subsidiary---the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products. Sinopharm is known for R&D and the production vaccines, included the widely distributed BIBP vaccine which is being used in the treatment of Covid-19. Other leading companies which didn't make it into the top ten included AstraZeneca (12th), Eli Lilly (14th), Bayer (16th), or Novo Nordisk (17th).

As an aside, Moderna is a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company focusing on RNA therapeutics and vaccines dealing with the immune system. It's only commercial product to date is the Moderna Covid 19 vaccine.

In the U.S., the deepest pockets belong to six companies, Eli Lilly with a market value of $98 billion, GlaxoSmithKline with $103 billion, Merck has a market value of $164 billion, Pfizer $212 billion dollars, Novartis at $273 billion, and Johnson and Johnson with a market value of $274 billion. 

It's worth noting the Big Pharma doesn't spend the majority of its substantial profits on developing on medication or devices. In fact, marketing receives 19 times more funding than development, all to provide you, the customer, with that nice warm and fuzzy feeling you get watching one of those homey  "one of us" commercials on TV, radio, in print, or social media because they care.

Going further, the top 14 U.S. pharmaceutical companies spent a combine $31 million dollars just on lobbying Congress in the first quarter of 2021. Pfizer alone spent $3.7 million.  The trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing spent 8.6 million on Congress for that same quarter.

That doesn't include the millions they spend on wooing doctors, pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, hospitals, nursing homes or rehab centers, nor does it include money spent on medical associations, professional medical unions, colleges, seminars, or trade shows hawking their latest wonder drug or medical devise. After all, where did you think all those "samples" or other medical items (include anatomical displays and posters) you see at the doctor's office come from? 

Lastly, they spend millions yearly cultivating what they call "thought leaders" in the medical and pharmaceutical field. Thought leaders are individuals who widely respected locally, regionally and nationally that are used to promote various drugs or devises to other professionals in the medical industry. This is often the reason physicians recommend one pill or product over another. These "thought leaders" are usually very well compensated for their endorsement with trips to fancy getaways for "seminars" (all expenses paid), honorariums, and other very nice perks.

In 2020, 2/3 of Congress cashed a check from Big Pharma. The majority of money, 7.1 million, went to Republicans while Democrats received 6.6 million, but that's still just part of the story. Big Pharma spent $263 million dollars in 2021 lobbying Congress. Every member of Congress had a minimum of three lobbyists from Big Pharma knocking on their door. What were they trying to buy?

Big Pharma abhors the idea of the Federal Government passing legislation capping prescription prices (and who can blame them with a captive market of 70%?). They equally hate the notion of allowing individuals to shop around for their prescriptions in places like Canada or Mexico (where they often cite a lack of quality or oversight) and elsewhere.

The truth of the matter is that the quality of these drugs, if bought from reputable companies, are the same or better than here in the U.S.. The main difference is that the price of drugs are four times more expensive in the U.S. as they are elsewhere, and that's just the way Big Pharma likes it.

Lobbyists for Big Pharma don't always focus on every legislator. Often, they'll concentrate on key committee members who have the clout to either push through a piece of legislation (which they wrote), or just as importantly, has the ability to keep other pieces of legislation they oppose tied up in committee. This is thanks to Congress's rigid hierarchy, but also to the extensive and always up-to-date research they compile of not just every legislator, but also their key staffers.  They often know beforehand who they can count on and who they can't.

The top influence buyers are Starkey Hearing Technologies, which gave around $564,000 to members of Congress; the majority of which went to Republicans. However, Masimo Corporation (maker of medical devises) gave all of its $533,714 to Democrats. Pfizer split its $487,000 equally between the two parties. RAAS Nutritionals gave all its $400,000 to Democrats.

Other donors included Abbotts Labs which donated slightly more of its $284,000 to the GOP. Johnson and Johnson did just the opposite with its $275,000. Eli Lilly gave most of its $214,000 to Democrats too, as did the remaining top 20 donors.

The top Big Pharma lobbyist for 2021 was the trade association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers, Inc which gave $22,903.000 (mainly to Democrats), dwarfing the other four leading lobbying organizations, whose donations hovered between $7 and 9 million each.

Big Pharma has fought to keep the conversion of name brand drugs (like Bystolic, which is used for controlling difficult to maintain blood pressure) from becoming generic because that would substantially lower prices and effectively remove that drug from their inventory, which affects their bottom line.

Therefore, pharmaceutical companies make minor changes in their drug patients (in what's called "evergreening") to extend their control over various drugs and keep prices artificially high. "Evergreening" is something some member of Congress would like to see, but not so Big Pharma.

Speaking of generics, it's worth noting the very little new drugs are actually developed in-house by some of the major drug makers. Using a 2017 annual report, STAT, which analyses the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and medical industry, looked at 62 new products belonging to Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson (44 for Pfizer and 18 for J&J).  Out of the 44 new products, only 10 were developed by Pfizer and two of Johnson and Johnson's 18. 

In looking at the drug market in general, 81% of all new developments came from outside sources. Typically one of the big pharmaceutical companies will acquire the rights to the new drug and sit on it without ever developing it for the market or, alternatively, will "lease" out the patent for research purposes.

At this point you are probably wondering who is suppose to keep Big Pharma in check. Well, the answer is (at least theoretically) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). But all is not as it seems. The role of the FDA is to monitor the pharmaceutical and medical industry while verifying its claims, help regulate prices, and approving any new drugs brought to the public market. Additionally, the FDA is partially funded by this same industry through user and other fees.

However, with decades of cutbacks in funding, the FDA has now come to rely on those it regulates for its operational budget. Big Pharma provides 75% of the FDA's funding of its drug review budget. In effect, since the drug and other companies control the purse strings, the FDA has become all but impotent.

Should the FDA attempt to push back or exert to much control, all the drug companies has to do is reduce, delay, or stop introducing anything which generates a fee in order to have an impact.  As a result, in December of 2021, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a very revealing report about the clout of Big Pharma and its influence over the FDA.

For instance, the prices of the top leading 12 drugs used by Medicare recipients increased 250% simply by using various market strategies to avoid conversions to generics to minimize competition as well as "hiding" real profits and extending their monopoly over these drugs by decades. Furthermore, these same 12 drugs are now priced at over 500 times what they were when they were first introduced to the market.   

The same report also discovered that the top 14 drug companies spent $577 billion dollars on stock buybacks and dividends over the last previous five years, which was $56 billion more than was spent on research and development. These same 14 companies also received millions in taxpayer based grants and subsidies designed for the development of new drugs, not to mention huge tax breaks.  

So, what does this mean for you and me? It means simply that the medical industry, like any other industry, is largely confined to a few very wealthy and influential corporations whose first loyalty is its officers and shareholders. It also means that the care of the patient is often secondary to the profit made from some pill or device. A cured patient is a lost customer. Lower prices are lost profits.

Big Pharma will continue to peddle its influence in the halls of Washington, and closer to home in state legislatures while it has a pill for every ill to sell to us, real or imagined. Professional medical associations are often motivated by the bottom line to move patients through like an assembly line.

The more patients seen the greater the billable hours and drugs or whatever else sold. Meanwhile insurance companies second guess doctors in order to minimize costs, overriding recommendations even to the point of harm to the patient.

Western medicine, unlike in the East, is focused mainly on the treatment of symptoms and outcomes, whereas in Eastern medicine the focus is on prevention first. Medical professionals in the West tend to ignore natural or homeopathic cures, which may take a little longer, has fewer (if any) side effects, preferring what some call "controlled poisons" whose potential side effects can be worse than the illness.  Sadly, we can say the same about Big Pharma, whose profit over patient side effects are killing America.  The ancients saw healing as a gift from the gods. Today it's big business and profit.

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Understanding What Divides Us and Why

 

A recent national poll of just under seven million respondents showed that 35% of Americans identify as Conservatives. 25% as Liberals while a whopping 45%  said they were Moderates. It appears that Americans, as a whole, don't like what either of the two corporate owned parties are peddling. 

Of course, no doubt, that almost every elected politician in Washington who sees this poll would automatically claim to be a "moderate" if that meant hanging on to their office. They change positions faster than a chameleon walking on plaid!

RepresentUs, a nonpartisan advocacy group, published an interesting survey which showed how Americans ranked themselves based on their political views. According to the survey, there are nine distinct groups. 10% are flag and faith conservatives (Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, etc). 7% are dyed-in-the-wool conservatives. 11% are populist right wingers (Tea Party, etc). 12% lean conservative. 15% are "stressed sideliners" or nonpartisans. 10% lean liberal. 16% are dyed-in-the-wool Democrats. 13% are Establishment Liberals. Finally, 6% are extreme or "progressive" Left Wing (Antifa, etc).

So, you can see that even by this breakdown, 37% are moderates (and, although the survey didn't indicate, likely Independent since Independents tend to lean conservative on some issues and liberal on others). Meanwhile, 35% are Left Wing while 28% are Right Wing.

I guess it's not surprising that the majority of Americans consider themselves to be moderate. Moderates, and their willingness to see both sides of an issue is what has historically moved this nation forward.  We've never really been a nation of extremism until relatively recently. Then again, both parties, in their collective race to the bottom, have virtually purged their membership of moderates.

The only time you see either party come anywhere near the middle is during the general election, and that's just to appeal to the "Great Middle" and get their vote. After which, both sides gravitate back to the outer edges of reality and to the extremists on either side.  So, who is the "middle" anyway?

Traditionally, the middle was what governed this nation. In recent history it's been individuals like Truman, Eisenhower, Rockefeller, and John Kennedy.  Today, it's the Independents, the largest voting bloc in country. As of the end of October 2021, Independents made up 44% of registered voters while Republicans and Democrats were basically tied at 26% each according to a Gallup poll.

I think Independents see both parties for what they are---two flea infested wings of the same old corporate vulture. That's why they've jettisoned their malignant dogmas. While each party likes to finger point at the other, both are responsible for the shape America is in, including the corruption, cronyism, and increasingly extremist behavior. Both sides have sold out the Republic and transformed us into a neo-fascist Corporatocracy.  They have created a surveillance state which is one crisis away from becoming a police state.

 Corporate lobbyists are responsible for writing the overwhelming majority of legislation, and then shepherding it through the various Byzantine maze of committees and subcommittees, greasing palms and adding self serving amendments along the way. They fund campaigns, party coffers, and line the pockets of those willing to go along with the status quo. They control our foreign and domestic policies just as they control the media and use it as their propaganda arm. We can't keep going on like this.

They create and exploit divisions among the citizenry. The more we're divided, the easier we are to control and manipulate while they pull the puppet strings. And all that "infighting" you see on television? That's one corporate interest group competing with another. Anything positive we get out of it, the crumbs, is purely happenstance.  Of course, they put on a show when election times rolls around to make it look like they're doing something and it's "the other guy's fault", but that's all it really is, a show.

Given what both parties have done to us and our country, is it any wonder that the overall Congressional approval rate, as of the end of October, was just 21%? In practically every other country, politicians would be packing their bags and heading for the nearest airport out with that kind of approval rating.

The good news I suppose is that the rating is up from 18% a few weeks earlier. Nevertheless, Congress has been maintaining pathetically low levels for decades. But, in their defense, while we've been giving them low approval ratings, they've been giving us low performance ratings in return!

According to the same poll, the approval rating for Democrats was just 33%, but don't gloat Republicans. Yours was just 5%. As for "Sleepy Joe" Biden, his approval rating tanked to 38%.  His Vice President, Kamala Harris, didn't do much better. Her approval rating was 27.8%. As an aside, 44% of Independents disapprove of Biden's job.

 Also, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi's approval rating was 38%, though 72% of Democrats like her while McConnell's approval rating was just 30% of which 62% of Republicans like the job he's doing.  It's worth noting that while the majority of America's support the infrastructure bill (61%) before Biden, only a quarter of them think it will benefit them in any meaningful way.

All this makes me wonder why we've allowed it to continue. You know, despite these embarrassing approval ratings, we still elect well over 90% of them! Even the old Soviet Politburo didn't have that rate of reelection! It seems to me that the ones we should be upset the most with isn't Congress or whoever is the president. It's us for continuing to reelect this den of thieves.

Did you know that, according to another RepresentUs survey, that despite their lackluster approval ratings, 45 member of Congress still violated the Stock Act of 2021, including Senator Diane Feinstein, Senator Rand Paul, Representative Dan Crenshaw, and Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? The act was to prevent insider trading by members of the House and Senate.

 By the way, you should remember Debbie. She was fired in 2016 for helping Hillary to rig the Democrat Primary against Senator Bernie Sanders. But no worries. She was hired the next day to work directly on Hillary's failed presidential campaign, and how she's in Congress. Amazing how they land on their feet isn't it?

Here's a little factoid for you to consider. For the 535 members of Congress, there are 11,524 lobbyists representing corporations and none that represent average Americans. Of that 11,524 lobbyists, Big Pharma has approximately 1,350 of them (roughly 3 per Congressman), and they're not bashful about spending money. This year alone they've spent $263 million on Congress.

While 83% of Americans favor federally negotiated drug prices, Big Pharma doesn't. Since 2003, it has spent over $3.8 billion dollars to make sure it doesn't happen, and you know how many bills have been passed to regulate drug prices? Zero. Nada. Goose egg. But then again, as I've said, it's the lobbyists who write the bills, so what do you expect?

Here's another factoid for you. Consider it a bonus. Of all the industrialized nations in the world, we have the highest incarceration rate of any of them. As of 2019, there was 2.1 million people behind bars. That's more than China, Russia, Cuba, India, Mexico, Rwanda, or any of the Muslim nations like Iran, Turkistan, or Pakistan.

If states were ranked as countries, 25 states have a higher percentage of prisoners that the first country on the list, which so happens to be the U.S.. The state with the higher incarceration percentage is Louisiana, followed by Mississippi and Oklahoma. Kentucky is seventh. We have to go another ten more states before we get to the next country, El Salvador!  Why is this? Why should one of the "freest" nations on earth have the highest incarceration rate on the planet? 

For the fifth straight year, the United States has been ranked as "flawed democracy", which is just one step above a failed democracy. We are currently ranked 25th in the world of freest countries, and we've continued to drop regardless of who is president or which corporate party has the majority in Congress.

By all other measures, such as quality of life, longevity, happiness, healthcare, education, and so on, we're consistently ranked, at best, toward the bottom of the top tier or in the second tier. Surely we can't keep going on like this.

It reminds me of the Ancient Roman Republic which, despite having the most powerful military in the world, was rapidly decay internally due to corruption, a powerful political and economic oligarchy, invading tribes, a deteriorating infrastructure, as well as economic instability, rising taxes and public debt (it also sounds a lot like Weimar Germany in the 1920's, just prior to the rise of the Nazis).

Something tells me that living under a new Caesar or Fuehrer won't be a lot of fun, especially given the level of technology, hereto unseen in history of Mankind, and the fact that we're already a surveillance state in place; just one crisis (real or manufactured) away from a police state.  All you need to do is look around...or down at your Smartphone or up at your computer screen.

Let's not forget, they already have a propaganda wing in the form of the media, which has been actively attempting to control, divide, and manipulate us for decades now. It will take tremendous personal fortitude to see through the manufactured BS; more than it did in Fascist Spain, Argentina, Germany, Italy, or Soviet era Russia, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, or modern China and North Korea.

Americans, though, are a unique breed. Most of us are not just the descendants of immigrants. We're mostly the descendents of misfits who simply didn't fit in with the established status quo. We wanted to do better. We wanted to believe what we wanted. We wanted our own land or our own business. We wanted to say and read and think what we wanted. We wanted to exist with as little government interference as possible (today that would include corporate interference too).

Even those who came here against their will, having been kidnapped or captured and sold by their own people are a helluva lot better off than the best of those they left behind. America is still the first choice for those seeking a better life (though it's not exactly as billed). The main problem is that they don't want to do it legally or they think they're entitled to an automatic pass for some reason. So claim that "no one is illegal", which is true, but their actions may be. That's why we have laws. 

Nevertheless, there's still much we can do to reclaim our country and restore the Republic. As I've often pointed out in my articles, we can still reverse our decline into some sort of modern servitude to the Corporate state which will affect all of us regardless of political registration, ideology, gender or orientation, religion (or lack thereof), where we live or went to school, or the color of our skin.

Those are manufactured divisions anyway whose sole purpose is to keep us fighting each other while the ruling Oligarchy grows like a cancer and becomes stronger while the media continues to tell us what to think, who to hate, or who to blame for whatever make believe slight they conjure up.

The truth is that we alone are responsible for what to think or believe. We alone are responsible for our decisions, good or bad. We control the means to achieve our success. There's no one to blame but us for our failures without need of their readymade excuses and scapegoats. We have the right to live where we want (assuming we can afford it) no matter what we look like, believe, or love.

At the same time, we have the right as human beings to associate with whomever we want without fear of some artificial construct (aka "political correctness"). That goes for what we say, read, or watch too. We owe no one an apology or "reparations" for the past anymore than we can guarantee the future. We only have the here and now to determine our actions.  

We owe no dogma our loyalty. Dogmas, political or otherwise, only create barriers and differences. The only loyalty we owe is to Truth, Honesty, and to ourselves. As the great Hebrew sage, Hillel, once famously said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor", to which I would add my own quote "what divides us makes society and ourselves vulnerable and weak  while what unites us makes us stronger as a society and as individuals".  Perhaps we're finally waking up to what's hateful to ourselves and others.

 

Congress Approval Lowest in 2021 as Democrats Turn Negative

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U.S. Congressional Leaders Unpopular on the Balance

 

A 'Shot' in the Dark: To Vaccinate or Not

Anyone who knows me understands that I am a independent thinker. I have absolutely zero tolerance for dogma of any sort. So, it's not surprising that the cockles of my heart were downright giddy when I read about the number of teachers, doctors, nurses, truck drivers, air traffic controllers, pilots, and all the rest who chose to go home than submit to a defacto mandate from government and business to get a COVID vaccination. 

Now, some of you must be stunned or even flabbergasted to hear that. After all, look at the burden its placing on those who decided to comply and return to work. Would it surprise you to know that I can agree?  There is an inordinate burden being placed on those who opted for the shot and went back to work. For many, not only are they doing their own job, they're also being forced to pick up the slack for those who decided to opt out.

The result has been unstocked shelves, unfilled prescriptions, an absence of replacement parts, longer waits in lines, fewer people to answer the phone at businesses, unavailable or prolonged appointments, not to mention longer work hours for some, drive through only, and even the consolidation of stores, leaving many people having to travel a little further to find an open location (made worse by the higher gas prices, which have recently increased for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which includes fewer people available to unload the tankers sitting outside of  harbors or truckers willing to transport it).

On top of the that, we seem to have fewer people willing to work. It seems that there are "help wanted" signs practically everywhere. I almost feel sorry for those individuals standing on corners with their little cardboard signs begging for money. Who wants to handout "spare change" when now is the best time ever for them to get a job and get their lives back together?

Interestingly, there are about 9.2 million job openings at present, and yet unemployment is at record highs with some 8 million unemployed Americans, and that doesn't include the millions who are underemployed, working outside of the industry they want, or those who either are working part-time and want a full time job or visa versa. What's going on here?

The downturn in employed individuals appeared to have begun with the onset of COVID-19 when the government all but shut down the economy, urging only "essential" workers to report to their jobs and asking the rest of us to stay home. Schools and universities were closed, as were daycare facilities, and most stores in general. Only a small handful of services were open, including many doctor's offices. Dentist office were closed, as were courts (trials were postponed) while hospitals, gas stations, grocery stores, and pharmacies remained open.

To offset the sudden loss of income, unemployment benefits were extended and ordinary households were issued supplemental income checks by the government to help get them through. Meanwhile, insanity seemed to run amuck as people started hoarding paper towels, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, milk, butter, and other food staples which created panic and artificial shortage.

At the same time, we were encouraged to wear nose and mouth coverings, which many thought of as some sort of shroud akin to the ones used during the Black Plague. Nevertheless, this "shroud" became our admission pass should we want to go anywhere, be it to the store, doctor's office, or just about anywhere else that was open. For a few enterprising Americans, making and selling masks became a cottage industry. It wasn't long before other more established businesses got in on the act with "extra layers", filters, while some were even copper enhanced!

Simultaneously, with all the "peaceful protests", resulting in looting, arson, destruction of property, and vandalism, people went on a buying spree of ammo and guns of all types (not to mention the government's quiet buying spree of ammo). It seemed like chaos was everywhere, and then, just like magic, came Big Pharma and Washington to rescue with their hastily produced (and even hastier approved) vaccines.

Americans, in droves, lined up to get an injection of the magic elixir. Meanwhile, the government and corporate owned media went on a full court media press to encourage everyone to step up and get the shot. It seems like we were being told from every corner and from nearly every expert and pseudo-expert (not to mention a few quacks) to get vaccinated. 

Gradually, the lines for the vaccines got smaller, more stores opened, and most of the artificial shortages started to become a thing of the past. At the same time, fewer and fewer people wore their "shrouds". However, in its place, a new "passport" came into being---your proof of vaccine card.

Many businesses and government agencies (including courts) now required proof of your compliance, which reminded many Americans of the "Kennkarte" (personal ID card) demanded of German citizens and those in occupied countries by the nefarious Gestapo of Nazi Germany (Soviet citizens, as well as those in Warsaw Pact nations carried a similar ID card post WWII). 

For the majority of Americans, having to show proof of their compliance hit them wrong, particularly since at the same time, federal and state governments were considering mandates to force individuals to comply. There was never anything from the government or health officials which dictated the mandatory vaccination of all citizens. It was left up to each of us to be vaccinated or not, although the government and others (including employers) were strongly encouraging it, which brings us full circle.

A large percentage of Americans---about 45%--- have elected not to get the anti-COVID shot for various reasons as of July 2021. They believe that COVID is nothing more than variant of the flu; perhaps artificially enhanced to be more virulent, but nothing more than our own immunity couldn't handle (assuming we didn't have any illnesses which suppressed our immune system). 

These individuals believed that collectively, a "herd immunity" would be formed which would all but eliminate COVID and change it into little more than a nuisance, albeit a potentially serious one. They also encouraged those with impaired immune systems to get the vaccination(s) as a way to protect themselves. This notion of "herd immunity", originally encouraged at the initial outbreak of COVID, was now being downplayed by the government and some health officials.

The result has been a unintentional standoff between those who support free choice (to vaccinate or not) and validity of individual and herd immunity versus the government's (and other's) insistence that the only true protection is immunization by vaccine.  Businesses which had required proof of vaccination of their employees (or face sanctions up to and including termination) has seen the majority of their employees not blink at this COVID standoff and take the latter option, whatever that happens to be.

The same has applied in several other occupations including air traffic controllers, pilots and crew, firefighters, nurses, doctors, and hospital employees, truck drivers, warehouse workers, store employees, and even restaurants to name just a few.

Police officers and others in law enforcement also drew a line in the proverbial stand. Already facing massive shortages as a result of early retirements, resignations, and lack of available recruits thanks to last year's anti-law enforcement protests and demands to defund police departments, now officers are rejecting demands by the state to get vaccinated (this also applied to other first responders).

Even the military is seeing a downturn in retention and recruitment, amid the growing threat of China and possible terrorists attacks now that the Taliban is back in charge of Afghanistan and ISIS has returned (to paraphrase Mark Twain's famous quote, "talk of their demise has been greatly over exaggerated"), as military personal, who are inoculated against practically everything you can imagine, are refusing the COVID shots.

So, what does this mean to you and me? In short, we are facing what will surely be the first of a standoff between the Status Quo and its supporters over what constitutes "public health" and those that are ardent defenders of free choice; individuals who believe they have the right to decide whether to get vaccinated or not (the irony of "my body my choice" isn't lost on anyone).

As a result, these individuals have elected to risk financial ruin and who knows what else by refusing to get vaccinated. Unemployment, if covered, is only a short term fix. At some point, they will have to go back to work. Their only hope at this point is that given the millions of job openings, they can find a job that pays as well or better and doesn't require vaccination.

Meanwhile, employers who do require vaccinated employees will have to decide to stand by their guns and suffer it through while encouraging their employees to endure the extra hours. Most likely this will prove to be a boon to the employees. With a labor shortage of this scale, now is the time to seek higher pay, better benefits, promotions, and so forth. Employers can do little but go along, though some may go belly up. Many are already offering sign on bonuses, higher hourly wages, and special bonuses. 

COVID has already morphed once since the introduction of the vaccines (the "Delta" variant), and there's the possibility that it will continue to morph before it can finally be controlled. Given the uncertainty of the COVID's origin (despite strong suspensions), there is the likelihood other viruses will pop up. If so, then what? Will we go through this all over again? What about the concerns of the vaccines themselves?

Numerous doctors, nurses, immunologists, and others in the healthcare have come out against the vaccines, equating them to the snake oil sold by hucksters of past generations. They can be found all over social media pontificating their opinions. There are even claims that the vaccines contain chemicals which can destroy or at the very least, impair our own immune systems or having magnetic ingredients which enable the government (or corporations) to track our every movement. Some claim that the vaccines will help depopulate an overcrowded earth.

Personally, I can understand the need for the vaccinations, especially when it comes to protecting those with impaired immune systems. At the same time, each individual has a natural right to decide for themselves what to do with or to their own body. If I chose to vaccinate, that's my choice and not anyone else's, especially not the government's and certainly not any business.

Others will argue that a employer has a legal duty to provide a safe working environment, and they are right. Employers do have a legal right to protect their workers. That's the purpose of OSHEA. Schools have an obligation to keep students safe as well. But, do they have a right (or legal obligation) to demand that everyone shows proof of vaccination?

 When I was growing up in Florida back in the 1960's, everyone had to be vaccinated. I assume that's still the case. This is just one more vaccination to add to the list isn't it? But, if the majority are vaccinated, they are presumed "protected". So, what if I opt out? What if I was already exposed? My body will create its own natural antibodies to protect me. If I am willing to accept that risk, what's the problem?

As to the vaccines being used as a tracking device, why? We are already a surveillance state. Our movements, purchases, phone calls, computer and Smartphone use, and so forth are already monitored and recorded. They've got satellites which can literally peer over our shoulders and see what we're reading. They don't need a vaccine. As for the vaccine's contents, I have no idea. Biology was never my strong suit. I specialized in economics and the social sciences. Nevertheless, while I trust science, I trust my body's natural immune system more. It's time society did likewise and got people back to work. 

 

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By The Numbers: Who's Refusing COVID Vaccinations---And Why

45% of Unvaccinated Americans Say they Will Definitely Not Get the Vaccine