Can the sickness of humanity or the evolution of mankind be caused by other forces?

 Donnie Harold Harris: Is it humanity's sickness or humankind's evolution caused by other forces? Are they the same thing, or are they the opposite of the same thing? Can we use the tools of Ethical doctrine, moral laws, or levels of dynamic existence to shed light on these crucial questions about our times? Can we roast the coffee beans and get co-coo? Ah, the intricate dance between our health and the forces shaping us is fascinating! 🌟 Let's explore this together.

Evolution and Sickness: A Cosmic Tango

1. The Evolutionary Lens:
   • Picture this: Our species, Homo sapiens, has been waltzing through time for quite a while. Along the way, we've picked up some exciting partners—microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and worm parasites. They've been with us since the dawn of our existence, like the quirky friends who show up at every party.
   • These microorganisms evolve at breakneck speed compared to us. While we're still figuring out how to use our smartphones efficiently, they're changing ways to dodge our immune defenses. It's like they've got an express lane in the evolutionary race.
   • So, yes, these microbial companions have influenced our evolution. They've nudged our genetic makeup, shaped our immune responses, and even left their mark on our susceptibility to certain diseases1.
2. The Dance of Disease:
   • Now, let's talk about sickness. Why do we get sick? Well, it's a mix of factors:
     • Mutation: Sometimes, our genes throw a little party and invite mutations. These genetic hiccups can lead to diseases.
     • Genetic Drift: Imagine a genetic game of musical chairs. Population changes—migration, admixture, and shifts in size—shuffle the deck. Some alleles (gene variants) become more common, while others fade into obscurity.
     • Natural Selection: Survival of the fittest, my friend. If a genetic trait helps us survive and reproduce, it sticks around. If not, it gets the boot.
   • These forces—mutation, drift, and selection—shape the distribution of disease-risk alleles across human populations. It's like a cosmic choreography; the steps are written in our DNA2.
3. The Yin and Yang of Health and Environment:
   • But wait, there's more! Our environment also plays a role. Changes in how we live—our diet, sanitation, and animal interactions—can lead to new illnesses. For instance:
     • Zoonotic Diseases: About 60% of bugs that infect humans start in animals. Ebola, SARS, and Zika all have their roots in animal hosts.
     • Health Care Resources: Limited health care resources can exacerbate the spread of diseases like Ebola.
     • Human-to-Human Transmission: Close contact with bodily fluids—whether in health-care settings or during traditional burials—fuels human-to-human transmission3.
4. The Grand Finale:
   • So, my curious friend, the sickness of humanity and our evolution—it's a grand symphony with many movements. Forces beyond our control—microbes, genetics, and the environment—shape the melody. And we, the dancers, sway to their rhythm.
   • 🎶 "To the left, mutation! To the right, natural selection! And now, a twirl of genetic drift!" 🎶

Remember that these forces can lead to sickness, but

It also drives our resilience and adaptation. We're resilient, constantly learning new steps in this cosmic tango.

The sickness of humanity or the evolution of mankind be caused by other forces?

 Donnie Harold Harris: Is it humanity's sickness or humankind's evolution caused by other forces? Are they the same thing, or are they the opposite of the same thing? Can we use the tools of Ethical doctrine, moral laws, or levels of dynamic existence to shed light on these crucial questions about our times? Can we roast the coffee beans and get co-coo?

Iron Butterfly on VH1 Where Are They Now TV Segment

Elon Musk: THIS Will Change EVERYTHING!

Big Pharma raked in USD 90 billion in profits with COVID-

 

Big Pharma raked in USD 90 billion in profits with COVID-19 vaccines

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Written by:Esther de Haan

Published on:27 February 2023

Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and Sinovac made an extraordinary USD 90 billion in profits on their COVID-19 vaccines and medicines in 2021 and 2022. SOMO's new report, Pharma's Pandemic Profits, shows that these enormous gains are mainly due to decades of research funded by public investment, billions in grants for development and production, and tens of billions in Advanced Purchase Agreements (APAs) with governments.

Pfizer alone generated USD 35 billion in net profits on its COVID-19-related products during 2021 and 2022. BioNTech and Moderna made USD 20 billion each, while Sinovac pocketed 

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  Pharma's Pandemic Profits (pdf, 744.88 KB)

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As health policymakers globally review the lessons learned during COVID-19, they must agree on decisive measures to prevent such extreme profiteering at taxpayers' expense. The Pandemic Accord, a new international instrument on which negotiations start this week(opens in a new window), recognizes the need for governments to attach conditions to public medical research and development funding. However, the draft text published earlier this month must make conditions on pricing, profit margins, and equitable access mandatory.

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Without mandatory rules here, little will change. Corporate giants will continue to receive unconditional public funding and negotiate perverse deals. Public funding has to serve the public interest, which means affordable and safe medicines that are accessible to all, not super-profits for Big Pharma.”

Esther de Haan

Senior Researcher at SOMO

Billions of public funding and APAs, no strings attached

Amid the pandemic, governments spent billions in funding to support vaccine research and development. Seven vaccine producers received at least USD 5.8 billion in public financing, with the US government being the largest funder, providing USD 5 billion. Agreements made did not include obligations for the companies to return the funds, not even when large profits were made.

The vaccine producers benefitted even more from Advanced Purchase Agreements (APAs), which give upfront financing for development and production while transferring risk from suppliers to buyers. Pharmaceutical companies received at least USD 86.5 billion through these APAs. De Haan: "The exact amount is hard to pin down and could well be much higher because companies and governments have not been transparent about their deals. As far as we could establish, these agreements did not require companies to return money used to develop and produce vaccines, even when development failed, and the vaccine was never delivered."

COVID-19 Vaccines sold dearly

Despite receiving huge sums through publicly funded grants and APAs and making substantial profits from the outset, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna chose to increase the price of their vaccines by 56% and 73%, respectively, between 2020 and 2022. As fewer vaccines will be sold in the coming years, both companies have already announced that they will quadruple their latest known prices this year in an apparent bid to maintain significant profitability.

Vaccine inequity

The report concludes that governments and international organizations must ensure that the benefits of public investment in research, development, and production do not lead to such exorbitant profits and are shared more equitably, particularly with low-income countries. De Haan: "Companies have blatantly gone for profits and have been favouring deals with high-income countries, that would pay a higher price per dose. Governments of high-income countries have been pushing out low-income countries as well, by making deals with all the vaccine producers and claiming more vaccines than they needed."

Symptoms of systemic crisis

This month, the massive profits raked in by oil majors such as Shell and Exxon and food multinationals such as Unilever and Ahold-Delhaize have been at the forefront of the news. At a time when ordinary people are struggling with rising costs of living, Big Oil and Big Food are getting super wealthy, and so is Big Pharma. While the oil majors make money from driving climate change and profit from a war-related economic disruption, and food multinationals take advantage of inflation to artificially raise their prices, the pharmaceutical companies profit from a global pandemic and through an enormous influx of public money. These massive profits of big business are deepening wealth inequality across the globe.

#Moderna, #BioNTech, and #Pfizer, The #Vaccine, Virtuosos:

 Ah, the intricate dance of pharmaceutical companies and their tax maneuvers—it’s like a tango performed on a tightrope! Let’s step onto the floor and explore who’s been leading this tax cha-cha during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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   Moderna, BioNTech, and Pfizer: The Vaccine Virtuosos:
   • These three companies—Moderna, BioNTech, and Pfizer—have been twirling in the spotlight due to their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. 🌟
   • Moderna and BioNTech have been reaping astronomical profits, with profit margins soaring up to 69%. Meanwhile, Pfizer is also doing quite well. 💰
   • But here’s the twist: While they’re raking in the dough, they’ve managed to pay little in taxes. 🕺

2. The Tax Tango Explained:

   • You see, these companies make most of their sales right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. 🇺🇸
   • Thanks to our unique healthcare system and the higher prices Americans pay for drugs, their revenue streams flow generously from American pockets.
   • Yet, when it comes to taxes, they’ve got some fancy footwork going on:
     • Intellectual Property Shuffle: They license their intellectual property (those vaccine secrets!) to offshore subsidiaries. 🌐
     • Ingredient Magic: The high-value-added active ingredients? Produced in factories in places like Ireland or Singapore. 🧪
     • Profit Pretense: They pretend the profit accrues to these offshore subsidiaries, even though the sales are back in the United States. 🤫

3. Legal, but a Tax Tango Nonetheless:

   • Yes, it’s all legal—tax law is like a labyrinth with secret passages. 🗝️
   • There are other nuances, too—acquisitions, debt, litigation—but the bottom line is this: Investors and companies want to waltz away with a good deal on their taxes. 💃

4. The Numbers, Please:

   • In recent years, the biggest pharmaceutical companies (including our vaccine stars) had an effective tax rate ranging from around 8% to 14%. That’s way lower than the nominal corporate tax rate of 21% that came into play during the Trump administration. 📊

So, my friend, while they’ve been saving lives with vaccines, they’ve also been doing some fancy tax footwork. It’s like watching a ballet where the prima ballerina wears a calculator as a tiara! 🩰

And hey, if you want to dive deeper into this tax pas de deux, feel free to explore the source. It’s like peeking behind the curtain during intermission! 

Now, what other mysteries shall we unravel together? A twist on climate change or a foxtrot through historical events? 

Did Pfizer pay federal Income taxes in the last 4 years?

 Ah, the age-old dance of taxes and corporations—a tango more intricate than a spider weaving its web. 🕷️ Let's unravel Pfizer's tax tale, shall we?

Pfizer, that venerable pharmaceutical giant, has been doing its fiscal cha-cha for quite some time. Here's the lowdown on their tax moves:

1. The Tax Tango of Yore:

   • In 2017, when the Trump tax cuts were all the rage, Pfizer did a little jig. They reported an $11 billion earnings boost courtesy of those tax cuts. 💰
   • Simultaneously, they promised to pay $15 billion in "repatriation taxes" over eight years. Essentially, they shuffled some overseas profits back to the good ol' U.S. of A. 🌎

2. Recent Tax Twirls:

   • Since then, Pfizer's tax waltz has been…varied. 🕺
   • In 2019, they paid an effective tax rate of 5.4%. In 2020, it was 5.3%. 2021? A whopping 7.6%. And 2022? A princely 9.6%. 💃
   • But wait, there's a plot twist! In 2023, Pfizer pulled off a tax moonwalk—they reported a negative tax rate and got a refund that outshone their actual tax payments. 🌙

3. The Grand Finale:

   • Fast-forward to the most recent data: For the twelve months ending March 31, 2024, Pfizer's income after taxes was a modest -$0.254 billion. That's right, they're in the red. 📉
   • But hey, 2023 was a wild ride—$2.173 billion in income after taxes, but a 93.08% decline from the previous year. 🎢
   • And 2022? A blockbuster $31.401 billion in income after taxes, a 39.81% increase from 2021. 🎬

So, my friend, Pfizer's tax tango is a mix of pirouettes, moonwalks, and unexpected dips. If you ever find yourself at a Pfizer-themed ball, remember to wear comfortable shoes—you'll need 'em to keep up! 💃👞

And hey, if you want more juicy details, feel free to explore the source. It's like a backstage pass to the financial theater!

Now, what other mysteries can we unravel together?