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(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

I’ll bite. From 2009 through 2018…

Quote:Collectively, drugmakers and other health sector companies not including insurance spent $4.7 billion on lobbying Congress and federal agencies, and another $1.3 billion on state and national campaign contributions during that time, according to the study.

Pfizer, Amgen and Eli Lilly were the biggest corporate spenders, with Pfizer alone accounting for $219 million in lobbying expenses and $23 million in campaign contributions over the time period studied. PhRMA, the drug lobby, ranked the highest overall, with $422 million spent on lobbying.

This only quantifies corporate line expenditures and doesn’t capture individual contributions and PAC dark $$.

(01-24-2022 04:12 PM)Crewdogz Wrote:  Who makes that drug India used so well? I honestly don’t know. They’ve saved a tremendous amount of lives. How’s that company doing in the market?

Merck isn't doing nearly as well as the chosen BigPharma companies.

https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/MRK/

It's sickening. People sell their morals for so little too. This country also preaches debt so hard, that families can be ruined for a few thousand dollars of inheritance money. The average person is usually that hard up. I love capitalism, but the system sure chews some people up. Point being, you honestly couldn't buy me for any amount of money, but that's pretty rare though. People loose their minds over a heavy handshake.

Pfizer spending that amount of money doesn't necessarily point to anything, but it sure is concerning.

Pfizer’s federal lobbying costs since 2021 started will be off the charts. They will dictate the next booster (which their CEO said will be ready in March). Fauci will advocate what they tell him to. Follow the $$.

In early 2021, Pfizer tapped Sudafi Henry, Joe Biden’s former legislative affairs director from his days as Vice President to run their federal lobbying arm. Phizer had around 130 full time lobbyists in 2021. They will blow that out of the water this year.

Moderna is trying to play catch-up…they weren’t really in the lobbying biz much…only ever had one lobbyist on the payroll. Last fall they hired 12 more. Likely just a coincidence. Lol.Moderna’s lobbying budget went from $40k in 2019 to $290k through the 1st 6 months of 2021. That is just the $$ spent on direct schmoozing, dining, golf, small gifts, etc. Haven’t seen the final reporting for the annual.

The cash grab is on. It’s so great that this is all public since they have to disclose it all. If only people cared.

Quote:The swamp, revealed:

Pfizer’s notable disclosed full time lobbyists and their connections to Uncle Sam.

Justin McCarthy, Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs under President George W. Bush

Brian Arthur Pomper, Chief International Trade Counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus

Bill Morley, General Counsel to Senator Arlen Specter

Remy Brim, Senior Health Policy Advisor to Senator Elizabeth Warren

Mark Mioduski, Democratic Clerk for the Committee on Appropriations in the U.S. House of Representatives

Brian Griffin, Senior Leadership Advisor and Floor Policy Director for Democratic Policy Committee Chairman Senator Byron Dorgan

Ben Howard, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs under President Donald Trump

Kate Keating, Chief of Staff to Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Congressman Joseph Crowley

David Schiappa, Secretary to Senate Republican Leaders

Lavita Legrys, Director at the Office of Legislative Affairs in the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama

Mike Mckay, Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Gregory Meeks

Cristina Antelo, Legal Fellow with the Senate Democratic Steering Committee

Tom Davis, former Congressman

Michael Werner, Policy Advisor to Senate Democrats Policy Committee

Daniel Elling, Staff Director for the House Committee on Ways and Means

Cookab Hashemi, Chief of Staff to Representative Raul Ruiz and Representative Jackie Speier

Robert Holifield, Staff Director of the Senate Agriculture Committee

Hannah Smith, Legislative Correspondent to Senator Blanche Lincoln

Blanche Lincoln, Former Senator and Congresswoman

Colin Roskey, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services under President Trump

Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under President Bush.

Brian Diffell, Legislative Director to Senator Roy Blunt

Kelli Briggs, Chief of Staff to Representative Pat Tiberi

Anne Wilson, Legislative Director to Representative Anna G. Eshoo

Peter Wallace, Legislative Correspondent to Representative Ric Keller

Katharine Hayes, Legislative Correspondent to Representative Mark Schauer

Akshai Datta, Senior Legislative Assistant to Representative Ami Bera

Darrel Thompson, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intergovernmental and External Affairs to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Shanti Ochs Stanton, Floor Assistant to the Democratic Leaders Office

Natalie Farr, Chief of Staff to Senator Cory Gardner

Steven Elmendorf, Chief of Staff to House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt

Steven Irizarry, Senior Counsel for Senate Special Committee on Aging

Stephen Northrup, Health Policy Advisor to Senator Michael Enzi

Jennifer Swenson, Deputy Legislative Director to Senator Pat Roberts

Catherine Robinson, Law Clerk on the Committee on Ways and Means

Emily Mueller, Deputy Legislative Director to Senator Pat Roberts

Stephen Claeys, Trade Counsel on the Committee on Ways and Means

Paula Burg, Director and Senior Advisor for Health and Entitlements on the Senate Budget Committee

Elissa Alben, Senior Counsel for International Trade and Competitiveness on the Senate Committee on Finance

Karissa Willhite, Deputy Chief of Staff to Senator Robert Menendez

Gordon Taylor, Chief of Staff to Representative Chris John

Tucker Shumack, Tax and Finance Counsel to Senator Olympia Snowe

Todd Novascone, Chief of Staff to Senator Jerry Moran

Jerome Murray, Chief of Staff to Representative Stacey Plaskett

Moses Mercado, Deputy Chief of Staff to Representative Richard Gephardt

Tim McGivern, Chief of Staff to Senator Jim Brownback

Chris Giblin, Chief of Staff to Representative John Carter

Tony Bullock, Chief of Staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Dee Buchanan, Chief of Staff to House Republican Conference

Dean Aguillen, Advisor to Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Eden Shiferaw, Representative Marcia Fudge

Jane Loewenson, Senior Health Policy Advisor to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle

Andrea LaRue, Counsel to Democratic Leader Tom Daschle

Brady King, Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Kendra S. Horn

Joshua Fay Hurvitz, Legislative Director to Representative Anthony D. Weiner

Lisa German Foster, Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Jack Reed

Irene Bueno, Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton in the Domestic Policy Council and Chief of Staff’s Office

Ashley Gunn, Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs to President Trump

Monica Popp, Chief of Staff to Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn

Hazen Marshall, Policy Director to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell

Christopher Wilcox, Staff Assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Marti Thomas, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs under President Clinton

Karina Lynch, Legislative Director to Representative Scott McInnis

Cheryl Jager, Senior Health Policy Advisor for House Republican Leadership

Matthew Hoekstra, Legislative Director for Senator Ben Lujan

Susan Hirschmann, Chief of Staff to Representative Van Hilleary

Christopher Hatcher, Legislative Director to Representative Scott McInnis

Ann Marie Buerkle, Congresswoman

Shimon Stein, Senior Advisor to House Majority Leader/Republican Whip

Kristi Remington, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice under President Obama

Malloy McDaniel, Policy Advisor to Senator Mitch McConnell

Craig Kalkut, Chief Counsel of Senate Antitrust Subcommittee

Ashley Davis, Special Assistant to Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge under President Bush

Greg Nickerson, Tax Counsel to Representative Bill Thomas

Moderna:

Darren Willcox, Assistant to Speaker Dennis Hastert for Health Policy

Erin Strawn, Legislative Associate to Representative Joe Cunningham

Valerie Henry, Senior Policy Advisor to Congressman Greg Walden

James Derderian, Chief of Staff to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Carmencita Whonder, Advisor on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to Senator Chuck Schumer

Marc Lampkin, General Counsel for the House Republican Conference

Araceli Gutierrez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate Fellow

Emily Felder, Counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Nadeam Elshami, Chief of Staff to Representative Nancy Pelosi

These are the types of people crafting health policy in the age of Covid.

Thomas Jefferson said that the Republic would lat until the citizens realized that they could vote themselves largesse at the cost of their neighbors. I don’t think he foresaw that elected officials would be sold on the open market like so many bushels of corn.

And the FDA yanks the emergency use authorization of monoclonal antibodies….the reasoning is pure Washington DC silliness.

We don’t think it’s as effective against the less deadly omicron variant as it was against the more deadly Delta variant and we are not sure about long term effects.

But for the love of God go get the vaccine. Lol

(01-25-2022 12:42 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  And the FDA yanks the emergency use authorization of monoclonal antibodies….the reasoning is pure Washington DC silliness.

We don’t think it’s as effective against the less deadly omicron variant as it was against the more deadly Delta variant and we are not sure about long term effects.

But for the love of God go get the vaccine. Lol

Do you understand how that treatment works? The monoclonal antibodies work against specific variants. They are going to need Omicron specific antibodies for treatment.

You missed the pun.

Denmark joining England and Ireland tomorrow in cancelling all Covid restrictions. These will likely pick up steam in Europe over the next 2 weeks.

Took 2 days longer that I heard it would but Denmark did officially pull the plug on all domestic restrictions regarding Covid.

Dana White speaking about Joe Rogan at a post fight press conference when asked about the efforts to get Rogan censored/removed from Spotify. He goes on to talk about his personal experience with Ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies. If you've heard him speak you know this is NSFW.

(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

This isn't true. Paxlovid and Molipunivir should receive more attention, sure. But both show extremely promising ability to suppress viral replication. Other therapeutics have been in use for a while too. Back when the HCQ debate was happening I mentioned that drugs like Remdesivir would be more likely candidates for therapeutic use, and clinical data has backed that up. There are plenty of other therapies in use too. The amount of progress made in treating Covid is light years ahead of where it was in Spring 2020.

Also, we have talked pretty extensively about the risk factors for covid being an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, even if every fat person in the country changes their diet, starts working out, stops smoking, etc. those types of health effects take forever to remediate. By contrast, those same people can go get vaccinated, wear an effective mask, and be smart about social distancing and it will dramatically reduce their risk of infection, hospitalization, and death within days.

"He goes on to talk about his personal experience with Ivermectin and monoclonal antibodies. If you've heard him speak you know this is NSFW."

Guy who argued with an ICU Nephrologist two pages back would like you all to consider UFC President Dana White's thoughts on medicine.

How do you know it's raining? Are you a meteorologist?

How did INDIA have such great results without VAX/lower rates of VAX?

India’s Uttar Pradesh State Now COVID-Free, Recovery Rate Up 98.6% Because Of Ivermectin. "Uttar Pradesh is the leading state in India to use Ivermectin as early and preventatively in all family contacts." Uttar Pradesh is also one of five states in India with the lowest cases of COVID despite having a low vaccination rate of just 5.8% of its population. The state currently has 15,236,150 fully vaccinated individuals.

Come out of your box. Be more pragmatic

(01-25-2022 01:12 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Denmark joining England and Ireland tomorrow in cancelling all Covid restrictions. These will likely pick up steam in Europe over the next 2 weeks.

Hopefully international travel gets back to normal sooner rather than later. Anyone heard any major updates for international travel?

(01-28-2022 10:38 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

This isn't true. Paxlovid and Molipunivir should receive more attention, sure. But both show extremely promising ability to suppress viral replication. Other therapeutics have been in use for a while too. Back when the HCQ debate was happening I mentioned that drugs like Remdesivir would be more likely candidates for therapeutic use, and clinical data has backed that up. There are plenty of other therapies in use too. The amount of progress made in treating Covid is light years ahead of where it was in Spring 2020.

Also, we have talked pretty extensively about the risk factors for covid being an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, even if every fat person in the country changes their diet, starts working out, stops smoking, etc. those types of health effects take forever to remediate. By contrast, those same people can go get vaccinated, wear an effective mask, and be smart about social distancing and it will dramatically reduce their risk of infection, hospitalization, and death within days.

^Bolded.

This is simply not true.

The improvements on health are dramatic within the first few days of stopping smoking.

The improvements on overall health when beginning an exercise program and/or changing to a healthier diet are also apparent very quickly.

And I guarantee you that the beneficial impacts of stopping smoking, eating healthier, and being more active / exercising are certainly overwhelming over a 20 month period, which is how long we have had COVID in the world.

This mindset that exercising, eating healthy, and not smoking "take forever" to be of benefit are exactly why so many people rationalize why they aren't even going to try.

Obesity is the #1 cause of death in America when you consider that hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, cancers are in most people a result of being overweight / obese and sedentary.

We also have the statistics on COVID to show that being overweight / obese is a significant, SIGNIFICANT (as in top 4) risk factor for hospitalization and/or death.

I hate this mindset that a person can be fat and lazy and expect healthcare to give them a magic pill (or shot/vaccine) to save them from all the ill effects of being fat and lazy.

(01-28-2022 01:26 PM)namrag Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 10:38 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

This isn't true. Paxlovid and Molipunivir should receive more attention, sure. But both show extremely promising ability to suppress viral replication. Other therapeutics have been in use for a while too. Back when the HCQ debate was happening I mentioned that drugs like Remdesivir would be more likely candidates for therapeutic use, and clinical data has backed that up. There are plenty of other therapies in use too. The amount of progress made in treating Covid is light years ahead of where it was in Spring 2020.

Also, we have talked pretty extensively about the risk factors for covid being an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, even if every fat person in the country changes their diet, starts working out, stops smoking, etc. those types of health effects take forever to remediate. By contrast, those same people can go get vaccinated, wear an effective mask, and be smart about social distancing and it will dramatically reduce their risk of infection, hospitalization, and death within days.

^Bolded.

This is simply not true.

The improvements on health are dramatic within the first few days of stopping smoking.

The improvements on overall health when beginning an exercise program and/or changing to a healthier diet are also apparent very quickly.

And I guarantee you that the beneficial impacts of stopping smoking, eating healthier, and being more active / exercising are certainly overwhelming over a 20 month period, which is how long we have had COVID in the world.

This mindset that exercising, eating healthy, and not smoking "take forever" to be of benefit are exactly why so many people rationalize why they aren't even going to try.

Obesity is the #1 cause of death in America when you consider that hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, cancers are in most people a result of being overweight / obese and sedentary.

We also have the statistics on COVID to show that being overweight / obese is a significant, SIGNIFICANT (as in top 4) risk factor for hospitalization and/or death.

I hate this mindset that a person can be fat and lazy and expect healthcare to give them a magic pill (or shot/vaccine) to save them from all the ill effects of being fat and lazy.

I was going to jump all over this comment but you beat me to it. You can significantly improve your health in a matter of 2-4 weeks with diet and exercise, diet being the most important. Obese people shed weight much faster in the early stages of diet and exercise. If you have someone 100+ lbs overweight they can literally have a healthy weight loss of 5 lbs. a week while still maintaining nutrition. Within 4 months they can be down 60 - 100 lbs. and not just squash the risk of covid, but they also squash the risk of 100 other conditions that are slowly killing them.

Or they can just keep shoving pop, fried foods, and excessive amounts of sugar down their throats while lecturing others on the health benefits of wearing masks and getting shots.

This should be talked about much, much more than it is, but if you do then you're a bad guy because you're fat shaming, and that could hurt someone's feelings. It's better to just stick to masks and vaccines.

Feelings are the most important comorbidity.

(01-28-2022 02:04 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 01:26 PM)namrag Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 10:38 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

This isn't true. Paxlovid and Molipunivir should receive more attention, sure. But both show extremely promising ability to suppress viral replication. Other therapeutics have been in use for a while too. Back when the HCQ debate was happening I mentioned that drugs like Remdesivir would be more likely candidates for therapeutic use, and clinical data has backed that up. There are plenty of other therapies in use too. The amount of progress made in treating Covid is light years ahead of where it was in Spring 2020.

Also, we have talked pretty extensively about the risk factors for covid being an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, even if every fat person in the country changes their diet, starts working out, stops smoking, etc. those types of health effects take forever to remediate. By contrast, those same people can go get vaccinated, wear an effective mask, and be smart about social distancing and it will dramatically reduce their risk of infection, hospitalization, and death within days.

^Bolded.

This is simply not true.

The improvements on health are dramatic within the first few days of stopping smoking.

The improvements on overall health when beginning an exercise program and/or changing to a healthier diet are also apparent very quickly.

And I guarantee you that the beneficial impacts of stopping smoking, eating healthier, and being more active / exercising are certainly overwhelming over a 20 month period, which is how long we have had COVID in the world.

This mindset that exercising, eating healthy, and not smoking "take forever" to be of benefit are exactly why so many people rationalize why they aren't even going to try.

Obesity is the #1 cause of death in America when you consider that hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, cancers are in most people a result of being overweight / obese and sedentary.

We also have the statistics on COVID to show that being overweight / obese is a significant, SIGNIFICANT (as in top 4) risk factor for hospitalization and/or death.

I hate this mindset that a person can be fat and lazy and expect healthcare to give them a magic pill (or shot/vaccine) to save them from all the ill effects of being fat and lazy.

I was going to jump all over this comment but you beat me to it. You can significantly improve your health in a matter of 2-4 weeks with diet and exercise, diet being the most important. Obese people shed weight much faster in the early stages of diet and exercise. If you have someone 100+ lbs overweight they can literally have a healthy weight loss of 5 lbs. a week while still maintaining nutrition. Within 4 months they can be down 60 - 100 lbs. and not just squash the risk of covid, but they also squash the risk of 100 other conditions that are slowly killing them.

Or they can just keep shoving pop, fried foods, and excessive amounts of sugar down their throats while lecturing others on the health benefits of wearing masks and getting shots.

This should be talked about much, much more than it is, but if you do then you're a bad guy because you're fat shaming, and that could hurt someone's feelings. It's better to just stick to masks and vaccines.

Lord you guys are desperate to argue over trivial things. There is clearly an inferiority complex amongst some of you. See also: Bearcathawkeye starting an argument over the dictionary definition of the word "inextricable"...

(01-28-2022 04:18 PM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 02:04 PM)bearcats23 Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 01:26 PM)namrag Wrote:  

(01-28-2022 10:38 AM)Cataclysmo Wrote:  

(01-24-2022 10:50 PM)BEARCATDALE Wrote:  Three things that have been pushed for two years from the government and medical establishment have been mask, distancing and vaccine. No therapeutics. No diet change. No exercise. Nothing else. I wonder why.

This isn't true. Paxlovid and Molipunivir should receive more attention, sure. But both show extremely promising ability to suppress viral replication. Other therapeutics have been in use for a while too. Back when the HCQ debate was happening I mentioned that drugs like Remdesivir would be more likely candidates for therapeutic use, and clinical data has backed that up. There are plenty of other therapies in use too. The amount of progress made in treating Covid is light years ahead of where it was in Spring 2020.

Also, we have talked pretty extensively about the risk factors for covid being an unhealthy lifestyle. Unfortunately, even if every fat person in the country changes their diet, starts working out, stops smoking, etc. those types of health effects take forever to remediate. By contrast, those same people can go get vaccinated, wear an effective mask, and be smart about social distancing and it will dramatically reduce their risk of infection, hospitalization, and death within days.

^Bolded.

This is simply not true.

The improvements on health are dramatic within the first few days of stopping smoking.

The improvements on overall health when beginning an exercise program and/or changing to a healthier diet are also apparent very quickly.

And I guarantee you that the beneficial impacts of stopping smoking, eating healthier, and being more active / exercising are certainly overwhelming over a 20 month period, which is how long we have had COVID in the world.

This mindset that exercising, eating healthy, and not smoking "take forever" to be of benefit are exactly why so many people rationalize why they aren't even going to try.

Obesity is the #1 cause of death in America when you consider that hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke, cancers are in most people a result of being overweight / obese and sedentary.

We also have the statistics on COVID to show that being overweight / obese is a significant, SIGNIFICANT (as in top 4) risk factor for hospitalization and/or death.

I hate this mindset that a person can be fat and lazy and expect healthcare to give them a magic pill (or shot/vaccine) to save them from all the ill effects of being fat and lazy.

I was going to jump all over this comment but you beat me to it. You can significantly improve your health in a matter of 2-4 weeks with diet and exercise, diet being the most important. Obese people shed weight much faster in the early stages of diet and exercise. If you have someone 100+ lbs overweight they can literally have a healthy weight loss of 5 lbs. a week while still maintaining nutrition. Within 4 months they can be down 60 - 100 lbs. and not just squash the risk of covid, but they also squash the risk of 100 other conditions that are slowly killing them.

Or they can just keep shoving pop, fried foods, and excessive amounts of sugar down their throats while lecturing others on the health benefits of wearing masks and getting shots.

This should be talked about much, much more than it is, but if you do then you're a bad guy because you're fat shaming, and that could hurt someone's feelings. It's better to just stick to masks and vaccines.

Lord you guys are desperate to argue over trivial things. There is clearly an inferiority complex amongst some of you. See also: Bearcathawkeye starting an argument over the dictionary definition of the word "inextricable"...

Pot meet kettle