glad I live in Florida, the pandemic is over!

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis suspends all local COVID emergency mandates

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/ne…local-emergency-mandates/

DeSantis said his administration wants people to "enjoy themselves" and "live freely in the state of Florida."

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking executive action to suspend all local COVID-19 emergency mandates immediately and is issuing an executive order to outlaw all local COVID-19 emergency mandates in the state effective July 1.

DeSantis cited the ample availability of vaccines in the Sunshine State and said supply has now eclipsed demand. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 20.9 million doses have been distributed to the state, and 15.5 million shots have been administered in a state with a population of roughly 21.5 million people. DeSantis made the announcement as he signed a bill that bans entities, including private businesses, from requiring so-called "vaccine passports" and that amends the state's Emergency Management Act by placing limits on local emergency powers.

What I'm going to do is sign the bill, it's effective July 1," DeSantis said at the bill signing Monday in St. Petersburg. "I will also sign an executive order pursuant to that bill invalidating all remaining local emergency COVID orders effective on July 1. But then to bridge the gap between then and now, I am going to suspend, under my executive power, the local emergency orders as it relates to COVID. I think that's the evidence-based thing to do."

DeSantis had already unilaterally banned even private businesses from requiring proof of vaccination to enter. The law banning vaccine passports, effective July 1, entails a $5,000 fine any time a business or school requires proof of vaccination for entry.

DeSantis, a Republican and potential 2024 presidential contender, has been among the governors quickest to drop COVID-19 safety protocols.

But other, more liberal jurisdictions are making moves towards nixing COVID-19 restrictions, too. New York City expects to return to fully capacity by July 1. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has said she thinks July 1 is a reasonable target for essentially returning to normal, if vaccinations continue to increase at the rate they have been and if cases continue to drop at the same pace.

More than 100 million Americans are now fully vaccinated, the White House announced last week.

Bill and Melinda Gates Are Divorcing

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/0…elinda-gates-divorce.html

Bill and Melinda Gates, two of the most influential philanthropists in the world, said on Monday that they were divorcing.

The couple have together emerged as leading figures in the global fight against Covid-19, and their separation is likely to send shock waves through the worlds of philanthropy, public health and business.

The divorce will create new questions about the fate of the Gates fortune, much of which has not yet been donated to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr. Gates, who co-founded Microsoft, is one of the richest people in the world, worth an estimated $124 billion, according to Forbes.

Denmark ditches J&J COVID-19 shots from vaccination programme

https://www.reuters.com/world/…media-reports-2021-05-03/

Denmark on Monday became the first country to exclude Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) COVID-19 shots from its vaccination programme over a potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.

The move comes after the Nordic country last month stopped using AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) vaccine altogether citing similar concerns. read more

The country's health authority said in a statement it had found that "the benefits of using the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson do not outweigh the risk of causing the possible adverse effect in those who receive the vaccine".

Excluding the J&J vaccine, which accounts for around a third of Denmark's total contracted supplies of COVID-19 shots, would delay the country's vaccination calendar by up to four weeks, it said.

Denmark, which has so far fully vaccinated 11.5% of its population, has gradually been reopening society since early March as infection rates has slowed, including indoor service at restaurants and cafes and allowing football fans into stadiums.

"Taking the present situation in Denmark into account, what we are currently losing in our effort to prevent severe illness from COVID-19 cannot outweigh the risk of causing possible side effects in the form of severe blood clots in those we vaccinate," the health authority said.

It added that the vaccination rollout is progressing satisfactorily with other available vaccines.

Lawmakers at a meeting on Monday agreed to allow voluntary use of the shots from both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, lawmaker Liselott Blixt of the Danish People's Party told Reuters.

The rollout of J&J's vaccine has also been delayed elsewhere in Europe over similar clotting concerns.

Europe's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, said on April 20 it had found a possible link between J&J's vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who received doses in the United States. read more

But it backed the vaccine's overall benefits against any risks. Since then, several European countries have resumed administering the vaccine.

EMA said its safety committee had concluded that a warning about unusual blood clots with low platelets must be added to the vaccine's labels, just as was required of AstraZeneca. J&J said in a news release that it would comply with that measure.

Quote from JedRothwell

But assuming it is, there is no question the vaccine does not produce enough spikes to harm the patient. A billion people have been vaccinated and there are no reports of serious side effects or problems.

So far only 6000 vaccine deaths in Europe according the EU database. What of course is nothing....

Quote from JedRothwell

Just for laughs, why don't you try to explain away the data from the UK and Israel:

We see the same for Zaire, Portugal that both use Ivermectin....Same for Bulgaria that is going down sharply now with Ivermectin.

I guess JED messes up two facts: Vaccines work to prevent CoV-19, what we all agree about. But nobody with one left over working ,independent brain cell will use an experimental RNA vaccine without getting a 5000$ guinea pig reward. The death rate from J&J is much lower than from RNA vaccines. FDA should stop RNA vaccines now.

If you are younger than 65 the CFR of CoV-19 is around 0.01% based on Swiss data (It's 0.1% for flu see CDC). IF you are younger than 35 then the CFR goes down to way below 0.001% as so far only a hand full in this category did die.

So there is absolute no need for a vaccine at least for all younger than age 45 unless you are chronically sick.

EXCLUSIVE: Classified study found COVID-19 could have originated in Chinese lab

https://wjla.com/amp/news/nati…originated-in-chinese-lab

WASHINGTON (SBG) - A classified study of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 conducted a year ago by scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Department of Energy’s premier biodefense research institution, concluded the novel coronavirus at the heart of the current pandemic may have originated in a laboratory in China, Sinclair has learned.

Researchers at Livermore’s “Z Division,” the lab’s intelligence unit, issued the report May 27, 2020, classified “Top Secret.” Its existence is previously undisclosed. The Z Division report assessed that both the lab-origin theory and the zoonotic theory were plausible and warranted further investigation. Sinclair has not reviewed the report but confirmed its contents through interviews with multiple sources who read it or were briefed on its contents.

In an email to Sinclair, a Livermore spokesperson confirmed the existence of the report but declined to provide additional information. “Because the report you are referring to is classified,” wrote Lynda Seaver, director of public affairs, “it would be inappropriate for our lab to discuss this.”

Avril Haines, the new director of national intelligence, testified that the U.S. intelligence community is actively investigating both theories. “We just don't know exactly where, when, and how the coronavirus was transmitted initially,” Haines told the House intelligence committee on April 15.

“We have two plausible theories that we are working on that components within the intelligence community have essentially coalesced around. One of them is that it was a laboratory accident, and the other is that it emerged naturally from human contact with infected animals.”

Haines added that Chinese leaders “have not been forthcoming through this process,” and that U.S. analysis “is not based on an assumption that what they say is true.”

If the U.S. intelligence community has not been able to discount either theory, nor have the medical or scientific communities produced any consensus as to which theory is correct.

The zoonotic theory, advanced by China and the World Health Organization, holds that an animal, most likely a bat, infected the first human with COVID-19, or infected an intermediate host, such as another animal, that subsequently infected the first human. This theory has focused on the “wet” markets of Wuhan, the crowded bazaar of fish, meats, and frozen foods where roughly one-third of the first 174 known cases of COVID-19 had links.

Researchers believe coronaviruses, first identified in the 1960s, have probably afflicted humans for centuries, albeit with milder symptoms than those associated with more recent strains. Deadlier coronavirus outbreaks occurred in 2002-2003 (SARS) and 2012 (MERS). The coronavirus in the current pandemic, COVID-19, is formally known as SARS-CoV-2.

The lab-origin theory is predicated on the fact that the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) – located, like the wet markets, in the central Chinese city that was the epicenter of the outbreak – has long been at the forefront of China’s research on bat coronaviruses.

According to a “fact sheet” released by the State Department on January 15, WIV personnel work closely with the Chinese military and have conducted experiments involving RaTG13, the bat coronavirus with the closest sample to SARS-CoV-2 (96.2 percent). The lab has also published findings from “gain-of-function” research, which is aimed at increasing the transmissibility of viruses among humans.

This area of scientific activity, experts told Sinclair, carries a “dual-use”: It supports the development of new vaccines and therapeutics but can also be used in covert biological- and chemical-weapons programs, which China is suspected of maintaining. The State Department fact sheet said China is working “to engineer chimeric viruses.” In its 2021 report, issued this month, the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (AVC) said the “dual-use applications” of China’s scientific research “raise concerns about its compliance with Article I” of the Biological Weapons Convention enacted in 1975, to which China is a signatory. That article prohibits member states from pursuing biological weapons.

The “dual use” of gain-of-function research has in turn divided proponents of the lab-origin theory into two main camps. Both believe SARS-CoV-2 accidentally “leaked” from WIV personnel, but one camp attributes the accident to legitimate medical research, the other to prohibited biological-weapons research.

Analysts said the State Department’s claim of a close working relationship between WIV and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Chinese military, was well founded. “Any sort of institution that works on matters that could be construed as relating to national security – which the Wuhan Lab would absolutely fall under that category – we should expect standard operating practice is that they would have a close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party and with the PLA,” said American University history professor Justin Jacobs, a China scholar.

That WIV could potentially suffer a serious lab accident was not far from the minds of the State Department visitors there who, in 2018, reportedly cabled back to Washington that they had observed WIV personnel practicing lax safety protocols.

Asked about the Z Division report, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), ranking member on the House foreign affairs committee, declined to comment on classified material but emphasized the need for further study. “From what I have seen and read, you absolutely cannot dismiss the notion that the WIV lab is a potential source of the virus,” McCaul said in a statement to Sinclair. “And if you listen to the leaders in the previous and current administrations, they have said exactly the same thing.”

In its own report on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, issued March 30, the World Health Organization team – which was denied access by the Chinese government to key sites and data and was compelled to seek formal Chinese concurrence in its findings – designated the indirect-zoonotic theory (bat-animal-human) as “very likely,” even as the team conceded it could not identify an intermediate host. By contrast, the joint WHO-Chinese report termed the lab-origin theory “extremely unlikely.”

The disclosure that top scientists at Lawrence Livermore reached an opposite conclusion in the spring of 2020, by which point some 104,000 Americans had died – about 18 percent of the present total – is fueling calls for a new probe. “This is why it’s crucial the WHO conduct an independent investigation – not one that is tainted by the Chinese Communist Party’s malign influence,” said McCaul.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in March that Washington harbored “real concerns about the methodology and the process that went into the [WHO] report, including the fact that the government in Beijing apparently helped to write it.”

The Z Division report received only limited distribution at the time of its issuance, sources said, prompting some senior U.S. officials in the Trump administration to make inquiries into why it had not been brought to their attention last May. Senior officials at the Energy and State Departments were said to have intervened to quash efforts by lower-level U.S. officials who, intrigued by the Z Division report, contacted the Livermore scientists who wrote it to seek additional information. Seaver, the LLNL spokesperson, did not respond to that allegation.

One individual said to have been intimately involved in the preparation of the Z Division report is Dr. David J. Rakestraw, a senior science adviser who formerly ran LLNL’s biodefense programs and has been coordinating the lab’s technical response to COVID-19.

“We’ve been putting a large amount of focus for the last six years on using the computational resources at LLNL to try to accelerate the timescales for developing a response to an emerging biological threat,” Rakestraw said in a Livermore press release early in the pandemic. “That effort has put us in a position where we have tools now that are applicable to helping with the current response.”

In an interview with a fellow scientist uploaded to YouTube in May 2020 – two weeks before the Z Division finalized its report – Rakestraw referred to COVID-19 as “a natural occurrence.” However, he obliquely framed the outbreak in the context of Chinese gain-of-function research.

“The thing that I’ve worked on probably the hardest,” Rakestraw told Caleb Cheung, a director at Quest Science Center, an educational institution also located in Livermore, California, is “being able to respond rapidly to biological threats as they appeared. And we were focused on both the potential for natural occurrences, like the most recent COVID-19, but also on the potential for adversaries to use advances in biotechnology to create novel threats that we wouldn’t have vaccines for.”

Contacted by Sinclair, Rakestraw did not respond to messages left with his wife and on his home voice mail.

The slow distribution of the Z Division report across the senior echelons of the U.S. interagency – the document quietly circulated to the White House National Security Council, the State Department, and other agencies – led a handful of Trump administration officials to seek access to reporting by other intelligence agencies on the subject.

Its existence unknown to most Americans – even to some inside the intelligence community – Z Division was created in 1965 to study Soviet nuclear weapons programs. According to The U.S. Intelligence Community (2008 ed.), authored by the late Jeffrey T. Richelson, an intelligence historian and senior fellow at George Washington University’s National Security Archive, the division expanded its focus to include biological and chemical weapons programs. A 2006 job ad for the unit sought a biomedical scientist “with a background in virology, microbiology, immunology, epidemiologyor other areas of science and medicine relevant to Biological Weapons issues.”

Even credentialed scientists who have given credence to the lab-origin theory, however, have found themselves condemned for it. On March 26, 2021, ahead of the release of the joint WHO-China report, Dr. Robert Redfield, the virologist who headed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the outbreak, told CNN he believed “the most likely etiology” for SARS-CoV-2 was that it “escaped” from a lab in Wuhan.

That assessment led some liberal lawmakers to demand Redfield’s resignation from an advisory position he took, after leaving CDC, with the office of Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD). State Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, said Redfield’s embrace of the lab-origin scenario would add to the anti-Asian sentiment that has arisen since the outbreak began in late 2019.

“Dr. Redfield’s comments were inappropriate, unacceptable and beyond unfortunate,” Ferguson said. “A comment like this on national news is just not okay.” Hogan’s office quickly said it would not ask Redfield to step down.

Asked about Redfield’s comments, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a March 26 video-briefing with reporters that “most public health individuals go by” the zoonotic-origin theory.

Fauci cited the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2, how “well adapted to humans” it is, as the central factor that either theory must be able to explain.

But the remarks by the nation’s top infectious disease expert left little doubt that he sides with the zoonotic theory.

“Dr. Redfield was mentioning that he was giving an opinion as to a possibility,” Fauci added. “But, again, there are other alternatives — others that most people hold by.”

Hospital resists coercion from the judge.?

Defends patient from ivermectin,...

Hospital still refuses to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin after judge's order

Quote from RobertBryant

Hospital still refuses to treat COVID-19 patient with ivermectin after judge's order

Grand time to jail a part of the medical mafia.

Recombination patterns in coronaviruses

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.28.441806v1

Abstract

As shown during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, phylogenetic and phylodynamic methods are essential tools to study the spread and evolution of pathogens. One of the central assumptions of these methods is that the shared history of pathogens isolated from different hosts can be described by a branching phylogenetic tree. Recombination breaks this assumption. This makes it problematic to apply phylogenetic methods to study recombining pathogens, including, for example, coronaviruses. Here, we introduce a Markov chain Monte Carlo approach that allows inference of recombination networks from genetic sequence data under a template switching model of recombination. Using this method, we first show that recombination is extremely common in the evolutionary history of SARS-like coronaviruses. We then show how recombination rates across the genome of the human seasonal coronaviruses 229E, OC43 and NL63 vary with rates of adaptation. This suggests that recombination could be beneficial to fitness of human seasonal coronaviruses. Additionally, this work sets the stage for Bayesian phylogenetic tracking of the spread and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in the future, even as recombinant viruses become prevalent.

Getting a little ahead of themselves?

With ‘heavy hearts,’ Germany cancels Oktoberfest for 2nd year over coronavirus fears

https://ktla.com/news/nationwo…er-coronavirus-fears/amp/

Bavarian officials on Monday canceled Oktoberfest festivities for a second year in a row due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, saying there are too many risks in hosting the celebrations — which bring in visitors from around the world — during a global pandemic.

Bavarian Governor Markus Soeder said it was with “heavy hearts” that they decided to call off the festival for which the state is known globally, but that with coronavirus numbers still stubbornly high and German hospitals already struggling, it had to be done.

“Oktoberfest will be held again, and will be big again,” he pledged.

Analysis | Why Bill Gates Opposes Move Giving Poor Nations Access to COVID Vaccines

https://www.haaretz.com/us-new…-nations-access-1.9759404

The huge concentration of power held by Big Pharma, and the unequal distribution of coronavirus vaccines between rich and poor countries, has led to calls for vaccine patents to be suspended. But not everyone thinks this is a healthy solution

In recent months, the global media has revealed how Pfizer reportedly demanded governments in COVID-afflicted Argentina and Brazil put up state assets, such as military bases and bank guarantees, as collateral against any potential legal action concerning its vaccine.

Aside from seeking a safety net against civil lawsuits, senior figures from both countries explained that the pharmaceutical giant was also seeking guarantees against any potential suits for damages caused by negligence, fraud or malice on the company’s part.

This is just one extreme example of the almost unlimited power allegedly in the hands of the few in private companies and businesspeople running the vaccine companies.

As shown by the situation in vaccinated and reopened Israel, and, in contrast, the harsh situation in unvaccinated India and the many European countries still enduring restrictions – vaccines are the key to exiting lockdown and for lessening the rate of infection. As a result, the vaccine manufacturers have a lot of power in their hands

Quote from Fm1

In recent months, the global media has revealed how Pfizer reportedly demanded governments in COVID-afflicted Argentina and Brazil put up state assets,

Pfizer is a highly criminal company. They killed HCQ (Lancet fake study, Yale school of medicine bribing for statement) to make RNA vaccines possible, they fully cheated the phase III study that had an illegal setup with Pfizer as the supervisor.

Their vaccine so far killed at least 30'000 people world wide due to immune damping induced CoV-19. This effect was already present in the phase III study. But Pfizer doctors had to kick out all people (>200!!) that got high temperature during the first 10 days after jab 1.

All documented in the FDA report. But of course with no notion of the illegal setup....

I have asked this already some time ago, but is there a study that shows a cohorte of Pfizer vaccinated people vs non-vaccinated people, to be able to compare mortality of both, in case they caught the virus?

If not your accusation of Pfizer increasing death rates due to vaccination seems a bit theoretical, with my limited knowledge....

Elmhurst Hospital Update.

https://wgntv.com/news/coronav…ersial-medication-report/

Unfortunately no access from EU, it seems....

Edit: but we are at least important

its just more of the same...

ELMHURST, Ill. — A DuPage County judge has ordered a hospital to allow a comatose COVID-19 patient access to a drug the FDA says could be unsafe, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Elmhurst Hospital says the drug use isn’t justified, another court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

The drug itself has been aroung for a long time, but it is usually used to treat parasitic worms. Although, some doctors have found success using it for COVID-19 patients.

The Tribune reports 68-year-old Nurije Fype has been at Elmhurst Hospital since April and is now on a ventilator. Her daughter has been fighting to get her the drug ivermectin.

The FDA does not recommend the use of the drug for COVID-19, while the National Institute of Health says there isn’t enough research to recommend it’s use or not for COVID-19.

An attorney for the hospital says none of the doctors agreed to administer the drug and an ethics panel concluded it couldn’t justify the drugs use, according to the Tribune.

The Tribune reports the judge pointed to a court document from the woman’s doctor who says he’s used the drug successfully. The judge asked if no one at the hospital is willing to give her the drug, why not allow her doctor to do it?

The Tribune reports the judge added why does the hospital object to using the medication if the patient is not improving.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Quote from zorud

If not your accusation of Pfizer increasing death rates due to vaccination seems a bit theoretical, with my limited knowledge....

The phase III study aleady did show 200 additional infections due to vaccination. Of course Pfizer kicked these people out of the study and did not follow up.

The same effect can be seen in Israel data with increase in cases during vaccination phase. Or simply said vaccination did for a long time show no positive effect at all...

You should not defend the worst criminals among Big Pharma...This only tells people how close you are.

The best documented data we have in Switzerland: https://www.vd.ch/toutes-les-a…e-dans-le-canton-de-vaud/

Death among people

age >75 :: 859

age > 64 < =75 :: 103

age > 18 <=64 :: 35

Total cases about 80'000 So the total CFR of PCR+ cases is 1.25% and only 0.05% for people younger than 65.

But for one PCR+ case we have 3 more with antibodies. So the real CFR is 1/4 of the above figure. And of course it has been 0 for people younger than 18 years....

This is rough statistic and to get more exact figures I must dig into the states people age database and test database.

So all the lock down measures for people age <65 are criminal and state terror.

Quote from zorud

I have asked this already some time ago, but is there a study that shows a cohorte of Pfizer vaccinated people vs non-vaccinated people, to be able to compare mortality of both, in case they caught the virus?

Yes. This was measured in the double-blind tests before the drug was authorized, and again in extensive studies in Israel. Compared to unvaccinated people, ~20% of people with two doses who are exposed to the virus develop "breakthrough" cases, but most of these cases are mild compared to un-vaccinated people. In Israel there were almost no deaths from breakthrough cases.

(I read about this, but I did not bookmark the articles.)

This is similar to the effects of some other vaccines.

Quote from Fm1

In recent months, the global media has revealed how Pfizer reportedly demanded governments in COVID-afflicted Argentina and Brazil put up state assets, such as military bases and bank guarantees, as collateral against any potential legal action concerning its vaccine.

They are playing business hardball. It is kind of reprehensible, given how many people are dying. On the other hand, you wouldn't want to do business with the government of Brazil on any other basis. You might as well kiss your money goodbye. That's what I have heard.

I think the solution is to temporarily suspend patent rights and royalties. We can't ask the pharma companies to pay the entire cost of suspending royalties. That would not be fair. Everyone should contribute eventually, by paying taxes. The pharma companies will ultimately contribute their fair share through taxes, just as much as the taxpayers, auto companies, Amazon.com, and so on. I hope that Brazil and other countries will pay a large share of this, eventually, but if they do not, the rest of the world should pay to ensure worldwide herd immunity. I hope that drives the virus to extinction in humans. That would be far cheaper than letting it linger in some populations. I sure hope enough Americans get the vaccination to reach herd immunity. It would be awful if the anti-vax, anti-science Death Cult fanatics achieve their goal of prolonging the disease forever!

If there is a permanent reduction in royalties, the pharma companies might be given a tax break. That amounts to the same thing as having them pay for uncollected royalties with taxes, along with the rest of us.

Pharma companies went along with a permanently reduced cost of AIDS drugs in the third world. I do not know how that reduced income was treated, or what the tax breaks there may have been. It makes sense from a business point of view, because it is better to sell drugs at a vastly reduced cost and lower profit than not to sell them at all. There is no way third-world patients could afford first-world AIDS drug prices. Either sell them at a huge discount, or you will not sell them at all. Probably, the same applies to COVID-19 vaccines. Although they are much cheaper than AIDS drugs, since you only need 1 or 2 doses per person, and you are done. You have to keep taking AIDS drugs the rest of your life, I believe.

Quote from JedRothwell

I think the solution is to temporarily suspend patent rights and royalties. We can't ask the pharma companies to pay the entire cost of suspending royalties.

Some people say the pharma companies are making too much money from this crisis. I don't understand that argument. That is like saying Google is making "too much money" by destroying the newspapers, or Amazon is making too much by bankrupting Sears, shopping malls the rest of bricks-and-mortar retail industry. That is exactly what those two are doing. Everyone knows it. You might say they have "too much power" but it is not "too much money." You might believe it is too much unfettered free market capitalism. Too much creative destruction. If you are opposed to capitalism, you might want the government to somehow slow them down, or hit them with antitrust suits. I am strongly in favor of capitalism. The only adjustment I want to see is help for people thrown out of work at newspapers and retail stores.

Saying there is "too much money" going to Google and Amazon is ridiculous. Everyone could see the amount of money involved as they revved up. It equalled the profits that used to go to newspapers and retail stores. Did you expect the money that used to go to Sears would magically vanish away? Where else could it go but into the pockets of the people who own Amazon? If you do not want to see a gigantic concentration of wealth, you have to tax high incomes at a higher rate. I am fully in favor of that. There is no contradiction favoring both free market competition and high income taxes on billionaires.

The pharma companies today have products that will save millions of lives and prevent a worldwide catastrophe. They have been working for decades to develop mRNA vaccines. Obviously, they will charge as much as they can. That's how capitalism works. Fortunately for the taxpayers, Uncle Sam also contributed over the decades, so we have some leverage, and some intellectual property. We can stop them from charging too much. Pfizer did not accept any government funding in 2020, but the basis of the mRNA technology was largely in the public domain thanks to Uncle Sam's previous involvement.