Health And Wealth

Without health, there is no wealth is the kind of folksy saying that I sort of agree with especially after a month of being sick and confined to home. The thing I know is that the relative wealth of a white boomer retiree makes being sick a very different experience for me than for many people in my country; I've got food, secure housing, plenty of firewood, wifi, streaming movies, etc. to comfort me in my affliction. Oh and did I mention great health care? I've known my doctor and family practice for decades, it's in one wing of a teaching hospital where my family has always received excellent care, and I have both retired teacher health insurance plus, at my age, Medicare (at least for now).

If I were living in my car and eating uncooked ramen noodles, relying on the emergency room to see a doctor, I might not have survived walking pneumonia. Or the allergic reaction to one of the medicines I was prescribed. As it is I'm on the mend and can waltz in without an appointment and get a follow up chest x-ray when the appointed day arrives.

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

What if I lived in another country?

I've experienced minor health challenges in a few different countries. In Australia, which has a public health system that is barely adequate buttressed by a private system that some can afford, I saw a nice doctor that my aunt knows and my out of pocket cost was not high enough to be memorable.

Tokyo street scene, March 2023 Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP via Getty Images

In Tokyo, where I lived for four years, I had two babies, mastitis from a staph infection, and the kids had the usual viral infections. There were doctors and midwives right in our neighborhood who charged an infinitesimal co-pay (like $2.50), and we were in the public health system by virtue of working and paying taxes (10% flat) even though we weren't Japanese. The doctors gave us prescribed medications on the spot but maybe only a couple of days worth so I would bring the baby back for follow up.

Japanese people at the time (early 1980s) did not vaccinate until age 2, but I was able to get the standard childhood vaccinations for my kids earlier than that by asking around. Whooping cough was still a thing if not measles, tetanus, diphtheria, or polio.

In India I contracted dysentery while about three weeks pregnant and was very, very sick for a long time while my husband bounced back quickly from the same ailment. I saw one of the many woman doctors trained in India and was given antibiotics and powdered electrolyte mix. Again, the out of pocket cost was so small I cannot remember it.

Now that I've lived through Covid and the anti-vax movement on steroids that it fueled, I have a few thoughts.

The body of scientific knowledge is based on data, not anecdotes. All of the above I've just shared is anecdotal. Being a boomer, I remember a time when the prevailing sentiment was that vaccines save lives and doctors usually know best. Being someone with chronic digestive problems that started at birth, I also know that Western medicine is far from the definitive authority on how to get or stay well. A G/I specialist finally diagnosed what was wrong with me, but it took a naturopath and an acupuncturist to get me back on the path to decent health.

All of that is background for me to say that the profit motive has infected health care in the U.S. and a profound lack of trust in medical authorities stems from this root cause.

After we were told that Covid vaccines would stop transmission (they don't) -- and that we were criminals if we questioned that orthodoxy -- public faith in medical authorities began to disintegrate.

After we were told that Covid couldn't possibly have originated in a lab (it could, possibly with Mossad's involvement) -- and that we were criminals if we questioned that orthodoxy -- public faith in our government's commitment to our health began to disintegrate.

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images  Source: "Newly sworn-in HHS Secretary RFK Jr. vows to tackle physical, as well as spiritual 'crisis' in the country"

Enter RFK Jr.

Kennedy is easily the most bizarre Secretary of Health & Human Services that we've had in my lifetime. One of the original "vaccines cause autism" advocates, he now appears to have walked that back somewhat -- or at least that's what he told senators in his confirmation hearings.

When I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2020 there was a large contingent who were intent on weaponizing anti-vax sentiment against me. Either trying to falsely paint me as anti-vax (as they had successfully done to pediatrician Dr. Jill Stein in 2016) or organizing opposition because I had made clear my position that parents are free to not vaccinate their kids, but in my opinion those kids should not be admitted to public schools. 

To really understand the concept of public health, you might have to work in a setting like public schools for a few years. Many anti-vax parents are against schools, too, and they homeschool with widely varied results. One such parent commented online, "I am only responsible for my family's health" which is a sentiment that would probably get you sent to a re-education camp in China (kidding).

China was set up to be seen as the bad guy during Covid. The virus was clearly developed with U.S. financial and logistical backing, but it "leaked" in Wuhan. Hmmm,  interesting. China went into overdrive to address the public health crisis, as did Cuba. The U.S. made sure a lot of very wealthy Big Pharma executives became even more wealthy, and withheld the patents for various early Covid vaccines.

China is not the bad guy here. Health care for profit is the bad guy. It is an oxymoron. It has eroded our faith in public health directives, and our faith in health advice from people who went to medical school.

If you haven't seen the mini-series Apple Cider Vinegar you might want to check it out. It's a recreation of the true story of an Australian health "influencer" who died of cancer after rejecting medical advice and instead attempting a fresh juice cure. Her mom also bought in and also died of a different type of cancer. Just today I learned that super model Elle Macpherson is another health "influencer" in Australia who rejected chemo for breast cancer and publicized it. 

I like fresh squeezed juice as much as the next person. But I also like my friend in town who is still alive after chemo to treat bladder cancer. In fact, they are in remission and were given a clean bill of health over a year ago. Honestly, they were the last person I expected to go the conventional route based on their lifestyle up to that point. But they have a family who loves them. So they talked it over and came to the decision to let the doctors try their best. I'm sure being so healthy heading into self-poisoning to kill the cancer cells made a difference.

In what direction will Secretary Kennedy lead us? As long as Congress fails to take the profit out of health care, it probably won't matter much. 

Am I too old to move to China?

"The Most Awake And United I've Ever Seen This Country"

On the heels of news that U.S. "intelligence" agencies are monitoring those with a negative views of health insurers comes the Tik Tok ban into effect as of today.

https://x.com/Kanthan2030/status/1880805233619861680

Ken Klippenstein's post, "Government Monitoring Those With 'Negative' Views of Health Insurance Companies," was met with many comments along the lines of: So basically everybody? That narrows it down.

A $20,000 a month cancer drug for $20 is just one of the astonishing facts shared by this TikTok refugee on Red Note aka  小红书 (xiao hong shu).

https://x.com/CarlZha/status/1880946462852530461 

Fun fact: TikTok was not banned to suppress health care opinions, or housing or grocery price opinions. Per a leaked phone call back in March, the Anti Defamation League (ADL) pushed Congress to ban the Singapore-based platform in order to suppress news from Gaza. 

Because Zionists are allegedly "defamed" -- though how anyone could make them look worse than they make themselves look at this point in history is mind-boggling.

Gazans returning to Jabalia after ceasefire announcement. Photograph: Omar al-Qattaa/AFPGetty  Source: Irish Times

China hand Carl Zha commented on Twitter that the surge of mostly young U.S. users to RedNote, and the content they're posting there, seems to be, "The most awake and united I've ever seen this country."

Does the ADL want the people of the U.S. to be awake and united?

How about health insurance profiteers -- do they want the people of the U.S. to be awake and united?

Our corporate overlords and their front men are united. Shouldn't we be, too?

Bad Health = Bad Outcomes?

Because the murder of Brian Thompson appeared to be highly professional, I suspect insider trading "victims" who lost millions while he profited may have had more to do with hiring the gunman than disaffection with health care coverage. The words inscribed on the bullet casings, i.e. Deny, Defend, Depose seem to refer to a book about health insurance fraud on consumers -- but I suspect that may be a red herring.

Source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789)

Still, what's historically significant is that pretty much everyone in the U.S. is making this about their frustration with the blood sucking health insurers, of which UnitedHealthcare was the worst. Several have commented that the $10k reward offered by the NYPD for information to help catch the killer would cover only about a day in the hospital.

https://x.com/Gritty20202/status/1864353737902264493

It reminded me that the catalyst in history isn't always true or even super relevant. e.g. the first large scale rebellion against British imperial rule in India, the Sepoy Rebellion, allegedly was caused by rumors that beef tallow had been used on rifle cartridges that sepoys (Indian soldiers for the British) had to put in their mouths in order to prepare for use. It's still unclear to historians whether beef tallow was actually used.

Put another way, it doesn't so much matter what the true facts of Thompson's killing are as it matters what people think the facts are.

https://x.com/GotBeachGlass/status/1864354340615442684

From another perspective, the U.S. empire's prospects for a WWIII victory seem dim when everyone except the uber wealthy is angry over obscenely profitable health insurance that denies needed care.

Despite offering the substandard managed health care program Tricare, the Navy fell short by 3,000 in its recruiting targets last year. Because who wants to defend this way of life?

People in Maine horrified by U.S.-Israel's continued deliberate destruction of the once fine health care system in Gaza can join a vigil on Monday night at Maine Med in Portland.

Healthcare workers in Maine will be standing with their colleagues around the world as part of the “Not Another Child. Not Another Hospital.” campaign..

NACNAH calls on healthcare workers to pressure their institutional leadership to break their silence on Israel’s genocidal attacks against health and health workers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDKyueJReWt/

U.S. Empire Rapidly Losing Consent Of The Governed

Let's start by admitting that the U.S. empire never had the consent of the governed in places like Okinawa, Ramstein, Managua, or Vicenza. 

What it did have: imperial servants who made possible the soft and hard coups that enabled 800+ military bases in other nations. Also, a rapidly metastisizing NATO.

Such is the nature of empires. Or, as the State Department weasel word experts would have it, "The U.S. government works to advance U.S. interests in Nicaragua by helping the country increase its prosperity, security, and democratic governance." Uh huh.

The U.S. used to have the consent of most of the white people it governed in North America. This was back when home ownership and health care were not out of reach for full time workers.

But, while WW3 looms as the military-industrial complex "solution" to eroding U.S. hegemony, the Biden administration is rapidly losing that consent on several fronts.

Losing the consent of the governed, health care dept.

For-profit health care is an oxymoron and millions have died too young as a result of the greedy medical profiteers who own and operate the U.S. government. 

The architect of U.S. failure to contain a pandemic still killing 400 people a day just announced he is retiring at 81 -- with a net worth of about $10 million. From a career in public service? Give me a break. 

A subscriber-only piece on Patreon by Jack Mirkinson, "Good Riddance to Anthony Fauci," argues convincingly that, "The worship of Fauci feels like the ultimate triumph of vibes over reality." Because all the blather about how we had to vote blue no matter who to get a bad, science-denying president out of office had Democrats rejoicing that now the U.S. would "follow the science" and, with Fauci able to lead, get our deadly pandemic mismanagement under control.

We see how well that has worked out.

Number of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths worldwide 

as of August 15, 2022, by country

Find more statistics at Statista

Or maybe you prefer to compare per capita rates, which take into account total population? The U.S. has 10.37 deaths per million residents. By contrast, Japan, another capitalist state that miraculously also maintains a robust public health system, has 0.94 covid deaths per million. Canada, with demographics and culture more comparable to the U.S., has a rate of 4.03.

But statistics can lie, so what about the anecdotal evidence my Twitter feed is chock full of? So many posts noting that, where public health and commerce are in conflict, commerce prevails. And when it comes to commerce, Weapons R U.S.!

Meanwhile, people in the US can't pay their rent, afford food, or get healthcare. Wake up. No one cares about some corrupt European version of a 3rd world country. The US doesn't stand with your MIC dumping ground. We want our money here.

— SJones 🌻 (@SJonesWasTaken) August 21, 2022

As the next pandemic looms, we hear that tiny and heavily sanctioned Cuba -- which has one of the most successful public health programs on the planet -- already has measures in place to protect its people from simian smallpox (aka monkey pox). The U.S. has a few vaccines and not much else.

Back to Fauci-land:

Is it true that the CDC is still working remotely because of the health risks while telling everyone else to get back in the office?

— Starbucks Unions Form Like Voltron (@TweetyMctwat) August 20, 2022

Following the $cience.

— Starbucks Unions Form Like Voltron (@TweetyMctwat) August 20, 2022

 

Most CDC staff work remotely.

White House aides are strictly tested and wear N95 masks to meet with POTUS.

Pres. Biden isolated until he tested negative.

But everyone else? Go to work without COVID safety standards; no need to isolate if exposed; take 5 days if you get sick.

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) August 19, 2022

 

Losing the consent of the governed, economic dept.

Medical debt in the U.S. is a huge factor detrimental to personal wealth. It's part of what makes us so exceptional. You think Japanese and Canadian people lose their homes to mortgage default when they can't pay for cancer treatments?

That's been the sad case for decades now, but recently the Biden administration's sanctions on any country not helping with the proxy war on Russia have taken an ax to global economic structures. 

This has Europe reeling from double digit inflation, only kept below 10% in the U.S. by a gas tax holiday contributing mightily to the hottest northern hemisphere summer ever.

It has also led to to a stampede away from the dollar as a medium of global exchange. Maybe the warhawks who love to wield economic sanctions didn't really think this one through?

Meanwhile the Biden administration is roundly scorned for failing to pass universal health care or even Build Back Better, failing to forgive student loans as promised, and passing a climate bill that benefits fossil fuel and electric car corporations. Oh, and a rider extended the Unaffordable Care Act and will allow Medicare to negotiate prices of a paltry ten medicines several years from now. Too little, too late.

All the puff piece journalism lauding this "win" for Democrats -- who won't even protect the most basic medical rights of those of childbearing age elected them for -- exemplifies why the U.S. public is also rapidly losing the last shreds of trust in corporate media.

Losing the consent of the governed, police state dept.

Forget the FBI at Mar-a-Lago. The loss of faith in police nationwide is accelerating steadily. Evidence? Search on Twitter for the term "suspended" and see what pops up. The recent worst in a sea of brutality:

Arkansas police officers Zack King, Levi White and Thell Riddle have been suspended following the release of this video showing them brutally beating a homeless man. In the video a bystander can be heard yelling "Don't beat him! He needs his medicine!" pic.twitter.com/vBgR5AYqKd

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) August 22, 2022

People of color knew all along that this shit happened to their loved ones with little accountability. Now, because phone videos are everywhere, white people know it too.

Cue the Biden administration's budget requests for FY23: $37 billion for 100,000 additional police officers, and even more transfers of used military equipment from the Pentagon to municipal police departments.

"New York police officers beating protesters with batons on May 30 [2020]. 

Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images" Source: Vox.com

Because when you're rapidly losing the consent of the governed, who you gonna call?

Revolution Needed, So Our Corporate Overlords Are Fanning The Flames For Second Civil War

 One of President Obama's many rewards for enriching banksters at the taxpayers' expense was this summer "cottage" on Martha's Vineyard.

Why do we need a revolution, you say? 

In rough order of priority:

o Global climate crisis driven by capitalism is spiraling out of control and the window to walk us back from catastrophe is rapidly closing.

o Global pandemic has killed millions and appears headed to kill millions more with a system of medical apartheid and for-profit medicine in the U.S. and other non-socialist countries.

o Eviction crisis on top of already galloping homelessness not only creates trauma for millions but is a big factor in the spread of COVID.

o Military spending and weapons systems surging -- including building nuclear weapons, illegal under international law because they could easily end human life if used.

o Incarceration for profit in the U.S. and to impoverish and disenfranchise Black, indigenous, and people of color is growing worse and was already at crisis levels. Racist policing continues at crisis levels but is now more visible due to cell phone videos.

o Student debt continues to depress the prospects of entire generations.

o Minimum wage is now about 1/3 of what an actual living wage should be in 2021, especially because of rapid, ongoing inflation of the cost of housing.

o Child care and public education continue to be underfunded in the face of immense unmet needs.

How are our corporate overlords fanning the flames for a second Civil War?

Charlottesville, Virginia "Unite the Right" rally August, 2017 

In roughly chronological order:

o Propaganda rather than useful information sharing is the norm across the spectrum of corporate-owned "news" outlets, from Fox News to CNN. The steady erosion of reliability in sourcing information is the work of corporate media and corporate social media that censors on behalf of the ruling class.

Carlos Piccata, who says he is a combat vet, to the Shasta, CA county commission: “It’s not going to be peaceful much longer. We’re building, we’re organizing. You won’t stop us when the time comes. This is a warning for what’s coming. There’s a million people just like me.” pic.twitter.com/EF8fjqGb1z

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) August 14, 2021

o White supremacy is in a desperate fight to remain in control, and numerous militias and other types of organizations have responded to perceived and real threats including the removal of Confederate statues and flags. Also, attacks on Black Lives Matter protesters, including killing them by running them down with cars (a practice that a few states have legalized) and targeting them for assassination.

o Law enforcement complicit in white supremacist movement, and armed to the teeth with cast off military equipment shared by the Pentagon.

o Widespread misinformation about public health protocols including vaccines, masking, and distancing and robust media coverage of refuseniks.

o Absence of national leadership on ending the pandemic leaving states, towns, and school boards to fend for themselves in the face of angry mobs. We are entering the third school year in a row pitting neighbors against neighbors and parents against school administration.

What can we in the U.S. do to bring on revolution rather than a second civil war?

In no particular order:

o Don't fall for divisive tactics. For example, consider the possiblity that "Divided We Fall May Be COVID's Underlying Purpose."

o Look and listen beneath the surface of false dichotomies.

o Don't demonize each other just because we disagree. People with ideas that seem wrong and dangerous may have PTSD from traumas. They may be experiencing hunger, bankruptcy, or lack of medical care. They may only have access to really poor information or outright disinformation. Don't write human beings off even if you loathe their ideas. 

o Free your mind and the rest will follow. Do your own thinking, take in new information, and be willing to rethink your beliefs. Put another way, don't mistake narratives for truth. Even this one.

Masses Demand Medicare For All, The Most Broken Campaign Promise Of Democrats

Today the 600,000+ people in the U.S. who died from COVID won't be marching for Medicare for All. 

Neither will many Democrats in Congress who campaigned on the most popular form of universal health care, a basic human right that people in the U.S. lack. 

My own congressperson Jared Golden co-sponsored M4A legislation last time around. Then he ran for re-election and took campaign contributions from big tech firms looking to expand into the for-profit health care sector. Guess who doesn't support M4A anymore? His rationale: he's heard from constituents that they want to keep their employer-sponsored healthcare. Really? Then why do Mainers call it the Unaffordable Care Act? 

Once you've been sick with your ACA mandated insurance you understand that Obama's deal with the insurance industry to guarantee their profits had nothing to do with providing you with a reasonable standard of care.

The so-called squad of progressive Democrats came under fire this year from lefty organizers who wanted them to withhold their vote to re-elect Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi until she agreed to put M4A to a vote. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, formerly the darling of people who yearn to believe the Democratic Party serves people rather than corporations, has fallen from grace over the "Force the Vote" issue. Progressive types see her coddling Pelosi, whose wealth has grown by hundreds of millions in office, and whose husband just raked in $5 million in profits buying tech stocks Congress was about to regulate. 

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14.6 million people lost their health insurance during the pandemic. Pelosi's response: continue enjoying the gold standard health care she has as a member of Congress while showing off her two refrigerators full of gelato. Together she and her husband have grown obscenely wealthy as she represented the interests of corporations rather than the people, and no one in the squad cares to oppose her. (Note: that's why electing women doesn't solve anything.)

Republicans are just as bad, but they're more honest about it.

It's clear that health care is a top priority for many voters. Inadequate insurance plus major illness is a leading cause of household bankruptcy and home foreclosures. Many of my friends are affluent enough in retirement to live in Mexico part of the year and receive their health care at affordable prices. Many of my friends are low income enough to be on MaineCare, a medicaid expansion program that applies to any children and some adults in my state. Many of my friends can only afford catastrophic health insurance because the premiums for comprehensive coverage are too high for the middle class to handle. 

That's why Democrats continue to run on promising to support M4A. 

A slew of so-called progressive Democrats claimed they supported it while campaiging, and then backpedaled as soon as they were in office.

Thus the marches today in big cities across the nation. Also the widespread campaigns to bring single payer health care at the state level.

I'm involved with both Maine's campaign to pressure Jared Golden to support M4A as well as the campaign to mandate that the legislature enact universal health care by a ballot initiative in 2022. And I support today's rally in Portland which will hear from Jess Falero, an advocate for the unhoused who will eloquently share just how much it sucks to be without housing AND health care.

But here's the reality as I see it: two things need to happen before the U.S. can achieve univeral coverage via M4A.

First, the Pentagon would have to be defunded to afford it. 

The reason we have warfare but not healthcare is that both are enormously expensive and members of Congress would rather keep their bread buttered than help their neighbors who are struggling. (Just yesterday the Senate voted to increase Biden's $715 billion Pentagon budget by another $25 billion to keep the weapons industry lobbyists happy.)

source: https://www.mic.com/articles/167192/general-strike-feb-17-what-will-happen-if-activists-stage-a-nationwide-strike-against-trump

Second, the workers of this nation will need to stage a general strike. 

As we saw from the pandemic, their labor is essential to turning the profits demanded by capitalists. Only withholding that labor would exert enough pressure on our elected officials to bend to the will of the people. 

ANGELA WEISS / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Here's hoping that today's marches display the desperation people feel around health care in this country, and bring together organizers who can make it happen, without being coopted by the Democratic Party.

Corporate Government Could Kill You -- It's Already Killing Your Global Neighbors

First recipient of covid vaccine in the UK. With the stark racial disparities in morbidity from covid, why did they pick a white woman? Source: England NHS UK

The anti-vaxxers in Maine were the most virulent opposition I faced when I ran for the US Senate in 2020. By which I mean, they threatened me the most often and harrassed me endlessly from the very first days of my campaign to the end 15 months later.

I don't doubt their sincerity in believing that vaccines are too harmful to give to their children. Nor am I surprised that they are on social media now declaring they will never take a vaccine to prevent being infected by covid-19.

I do doubt their critical thinking abilities. I was repeatedly told that I favored mandatory vaccinations for children even though I was clear in public forums from the early days of the campaign that this applied only to children enrolled in public schools (which are not mandatory). As a teacher for 25 years, I have the lived experience of communicable diseases spreading rapidly (not to mention lice) and profoundly affecting educational opportunities. 

Opportunities like learning more about the scientific method of having a hypothesis, collecting evidence, considering its implications, and further revising one's hypothesis.

I was told by a mom representing a group of anti-vax parents that they were planning to vote for Max Linn over me, Susan Collins, or Sara Gideon because he was the only one they could trust not to support a mandatory covid vaccination program.

I have also seen anti-vaxxers make several references to medical tyranny.

Mask wearing, even if mandatory, is not medical tyranny.

Health care workers are exhausted and posting photos of the effect of working for hours on end with PPE in place to protect themselves from covid infection. I wear a mask for them. Source: Noosa News

It is akin to infant car seat mandates, limiting personal freedom on behalf of protecting those who cannot protect themselves.

A problem with corporate government is that it breeds distrust, and that distrust becomes a huge factor in emergencies like our current public health crisis.

Big Pharma has undoubtedly infected Congress and other branches of our government. Any health care with a profit motive is a business first and a health program second. This is a problem created by our captured federal, state, and local governments who serve business interests that fund their campaigns and perqs rather than serving the people as they swore they would do.

Today Pfizer announced that people with severe allergic reactions should not take their vaccine. Two National Health staffers in the UK had reactions to the new covid vaccine Pfizer is selling. That doesn't mean nobody should.

Corporate government is also infested by another pathogen: weapon manufacturers. Every Biden cabinet nomination to head up the US military has been a board member of Raytheon, Booz Allen, or another corporation that feeds at the public trough. That's why US foreign policy amounts to endless wars with the corporate media ginning up fear of new enemies constantly.

Chris Hedges has observed that declining empires often feature irrational beliefs and "crisis cults" as the material conditions for life spiral downward. 

One word: QAnon. 

Unsurprisingly, even the outlandish beliefs of that cult have a kernel of truth underlying them. Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell did operate an international ring trafficking children for sexual exploitation, with many Democrats like Bill Clinton apparently involved. The predators weren't all Democrats, of course. They were various powerful men who could be blackmailed afterwards.

I can't dispute the kernel of truth underlying anti-vax sentiment -- that for-profit health measures pushed by corporate government could be harmful. 

But I'll continue to put my faith in scientists motivated by a concern for the common good. When deciding about taking any new vaccines I'll consult the health care providers I trust, including my sister who works at a prominent research hospital, and my own doctors who I've been fortunate to know for several years. 

Source: floridacovidaction.com

I'll read sites by scientists like Rebekah Jones in Florida who have suffered their own harms for their effort to tell the truth about covid. Or the truth about artificial intelligence, for that matter.

I will continue working to distinguish between medicine for health and medicine for for profit. I can continue to be aware of my distrust of corporate government without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.