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.

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

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