Five Easy Stories
- Reforming the WHO, really?
I just learned that the G7 has been working on reforming the WHO at least since 2021, but their idea was to give it more power. And the German Bundestag already voted in favor of doing so in May, 2023: 497 to 68 with 25 abstentions. Note that they called for greater enforcement power for the WHO.
https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2023/kw19-de-weltgesundheitsorganisation-947084
I am completely in favor of the UK calling for another election and Nigel Farage’s party winning a majority of seats and Farage becoming PM. The Tories and Labor seem to be a uniparty, working together against the public.
However, I think it is naive at best for Farage and a handful of international health freedom advocates to think they could hijack an ongoing WHO reform process—which has gone so far that it was already approved in Germany, by an overwhelming majority of the German Parliament. It may have been approved by other parliaments as well.
Farage needs to take the temperature of the British people and see if they want to turn over authority and enforcement for managing health to the WHO, after Farage himself led them to exiting the EU’s grip with BREXIT. I think not. Let’s find another way to accomplish any good the WHO may be doing using other mechanisms.
- Bird Flu and TamiFlu—not a good match
Some people are recommending you stock up on the drug TamiFlu for a possible bird flu outbreak. This is a very bad idea. The drug does not work. Its label (the legal document specifying what it can do) claims it will reduce a bout if influenza by one day. Not very impressive. But when Jefferson and Doshi got hold of the original data from the trial that was claimed to show this ‘one day’ benefit, it turned out the benefit was less, possibly a few hours. Possibly zilch.
OTOH, the drug has been associated with suicidal thoughts and acts of suicide. If there is a bird flu pandemic, it will be due to a lab-mutated strain, and then choosing the right drug will depend how the virus has been engineered. But in any case, do not stock up on this drug.
Remember that even when flu shots exactly match the strain of flu going around, efficacy is still only 50% at best. Don’t rely on flu shots either. Consider regular use of vitamin D, zinc, B vitamins and perhaps vitamin C.
- US Biolabs in Ukraine, Georgia and ?https://www.rt.com/africa/609863-moscow-us-biolab-activities-africa/
It is of interest that Russia Today/RT is bringing up the issue of US biolabs again. Here is what they wrote:
- The Bibi FilesAmy Goodman interviewed Alex Gibney about his new film “The Bibi Files” and ran this 12 minute trailer. Gibney poses the question of whether Netanyahu is creating or encouraging chaos and fear to maintain his grip on power and protect himself, as he fights 3 separate corruption lawsuits.
- McKinsey’s reputation is built on secrecy and the extraordinary network it created, similar to the Young Global LeadersMcKinsey, the most famous and profitable consultancy in the world, has just been fined $650 million (on top of an earlier $900 million) for helping turbocharge the sales of opioids. Despite its vaunted ethics policy. One partner got fired.
I am reading the 2022 book When McKinsey Comes to Town to get a better feel for this consultancy behemoth. If I learn anything interesting I will let you know.
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/13/nx-s1-5155962/mckinsey-purdue-opioid-prosecution-doj $650 M
Following the prescription opioid crisis that began in the 1990s, numerous corporations agreed to pay hefty fines and settlements, worth more than $50 billion but only a handful of corporate executives have been punished.
“No one goes to jail,” said Ed Bisch, an opioid activist whose son Eddie died after overdosing on Purdue Pharma’s pain medication Oxycontin in 2001. “It has to stop because these companies look on [corporate] fines as a cost of doing business,” he said.
“Just collecting illicit profits without prosecuting individuals behind the crimes is no real deterrent and it sickens parents like myself,” Bisch said.