How Much Does Big Pharma Spend on Advertising & PR?

TV Advertising Spending by Network in 2015 (Not accurate but you get the point)

News used to be separate from entertainment programs. Those rules were changed. New Zealand and the US are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical product ads on TV. Our news outlets are now majority funded by pharma. In another record year for pharma TV ads, more than 70% of advertising is spent by big pharma ($5B).

We Are Being Bombarded by Ads for Drugs

  

See the full list of the top 20 TV ad spenders below, courtesy of iSpot.tv

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1. AbbVie’s Humira: $375 million

2. Pfizer’s Lyrica: $213 million

3. Pfizer’s Xeljanz: $209 million

4. Eli Lilly’s Trulicity: $183 million

5. Bayer and Johnson & Johnson's Xarelto: $143 million

6. Celgene’s Otezla: $139 million

7. Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Eliquis: $136 million

8. Merck’s Keytruda: $107 million

9. Pfizer’s Ibrance: $92 million

10. Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly's Jardiance: $86 million

11. Otsuka and Lundbeck's Rexulti: $84 million

12. Eli Lilly’s Taltz: $83 million

13. Eli Lilly’s Verzenio: $80.4 million

14. Pfizer’s Prevnar 13: $79.9 million

15. Pfizer’s Eucrisa: $79.7 million

16. Sunovion’s Latuda: $78 million

17. Novo Nordisk’s Victoza: $78 million

18. AstraZeneca’s Farxiga: $75 million

19. Amgen’s Enbrel: $70 million

20. Novartis’ Cosentyx: $64 million

Here is a list of top 50 companies. 

If you watch television for any amount of time, you’re probably going to see a drug commercial that tugs on your heart strings, promises to heal your worst medical conditions, and then a voiceover will quickly gloss over the multitude of side effects in a too-quick-to-understand string of monotone words. Prescription medications are are multi-BILLION dollar industry that’s making not only the pharmaceutical companies tons of money, but also the network television stations. How is this influencing public opinion AND health?

Are you annoyed yet how much these ads are on TV?   Equally concerning is that pharmaceutical advertising is banned in just about every country except the United States and New Zealand. And consider this: the average American watches 16 hours of pharmaceutical commercials each year which is more time than they spend with their primary physician. One-third of these people ask their doctors about a drug advertisement and most request a prescription.

Are any these companies responsible for the negative PR campaigns to smear Dr. Judy Mikovitz theory PhD Scientist "A Vaccine Could Be Causing The Covid-19 Pandemic"?  All of these debunking articles are trying to discredit Judy's reputation and none of them really are answering the true questions that she raises.

Contact Tracing Legitimate or a Scam?

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about contact tracing. It’s the process of identifying people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instructing them to quarantine and monitoring their symptoms daily.

If you’re contacted about possible exposure to the coronavirus, make sure it’s legit. Scammers are masquerading as contact tracers, and it’s smart to verify calls or texts before giving out any information.

 A tracer’s job is to help contain the pandemic by reaching out to people who may be spreading the coronavirus. You could be called because your test was positive. Or perhaps someone who tested positive named you as someone they’d been in contact with, and now you need to be tested.

Scammers read the news, too, and are trying to capitalize on tracing campaigns. They’ve even made calls appear to come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And yet actual tracers can’t do their work if we won’t pick up the phone.

Contact tracers are usually hired by a state’s department of public health. They work with an infected person to get the names and phone numbers for everyone that infected person came in close contact with while the possibly infectious. Those names and phone numbers are often kept in an online system. People who had contact with someone infected with COVID-19 may first get a text message from the health department, telling them they’ll get a call from a specific number. The tracer who calls will not ask for personal information, like a Social Security number. At the end of the call, some states ask if the contact would like to enroll in a text message program, which sends daily health and safety reminders until the 14-day quarantine ends. But tracers won’t ask you for money or information like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number. Anyone who does is a scammer.

Doctors Hold Capitol Hill Press Conference to Challenge Big Tech Censorship

The Frontline Doctors that were Deleted by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are back to respond to their being silenced.  This is why the evil liberal news media is the problem.

I just watched an excellent presentation (approx 20 mins) from 8 doctors discussing COVID-19 and the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to treat this disease. According to this group, the disease can be safely treated - it is the fear of being infected (with COVID-19) that appears to be the real problem!

Why Covid-19 Magically Disappear on Nov 3

Government officials don't realize that people are just going to stop testing and then this whole thing will magically disappear on November 3, 2020 election day.    Even Eric Trump agrees with me. Coronavirus will ‘magically’ disappear by November, Eric Trump says ‘After November 3rd, coronavirus will magically, all of a sudden, go away and disappear and everybody will be able to reopen.’ 

The sooner the mass public realizes that the news media is our evil enemy the sooner we get back our normal lives.  

Charts of Where Conoravirus Cases Are Increasing & Decreasing

Where are the Coronavirus cases increasing & decreasing?  Keep in mind all of this data has a bias based on the number of testing going on in a particular country.

How Stupid Are Americans & News Media on Negative Interest Rates?

I don't think the average American has a clue what is about to happen in our banking system.  Banks could soon start stealing your hard-earned savings deposited on the premise that negative rates are to stimulate the economy.  The news media will just cover the unprecedented bank thievery as the "right thing to do" for our economy.  Just more bank fraud if you ask me!

Here is a Google Trends search for "negative interest rates" and you can see that the average American is completely clueless what is going on in the central banking system.  Google Trends is an insightful way to see what people are searching for when new events and things happen in society.  There

"Negative Interest Rates" Searches on Google

Here are some topics that are being searched on negative interest rates below.

Most people who have saved money their entire lives have no clue that the banking system is about to start taking it from them slowly but surely.  Yes that is correct, the banking system is about to penalize you for being a responsible saver.  Here is an overview of what has been happening with negative interest rates around the globe and why you should be concerned.

Negative interest rates seem like a counterintuitive, if not downright crazy for banks or the Federal Reserve.  Why would a money lender or bank be willing to pay someone to borrow money, considering the lender is the one taking the risk of the loan default?  Why would anyone deposit savings in a bank that would take more of your money the longer you had it in the bank?

Central banks have been lowering interest rates for decades to 0% trying to stimulate economies.  They have run out of policy options to stimulate and are turning to desperate measures of negative rates to steal your money now.  With negative interest rates, cash deposited at a bank yields a storage charge, rather than the opportunity to earn interest income.  The idea is to incentivize loading and spending, rather than saving and hoarding.

In recent years, several European and Asian central banks have imposed negative interest rates on commercial banks.  How has that works out?  Complete failure.  With negative rates, cash deposited at banks yields a storage charge, rather than the opportunity to earn interest income.  By charging European banks to store their reserves at the central bank, the policyholders hope to encourage banks to lends more.

Negative interest rates are not only an unconventional monetary policy too, but they are also a recent one.  Sweden's central bank was the first to deploy these rates: In July 209, the Riksbank cut its overnight deposit rate to -.25% and the European Center Bank (ECB) followed suit in June 2014 when it lowered its deposit rate to -.1%.  Other European countries and Japan have since opted to offer negative interest rates, resulting in $9.5 trillion worth of government debt carrying negative yields in 2017,

How much Government debt has been issued at negative interest rates?

About $15 trillion of government bonds worldwide, or 25% of the market, now trade at negative yields, according to Deutsche Bank.  This number has nearly tripled since October of 2018.  CNBC article from August 7, 2019.

On Thursday, May 7, 2020 an unprecedented event took place after a violent repricing in the Eurodollar contracts as near as November 2020, for the first time ever the market was pricing in that negative interest rates are not only coming to the USA, but would arrive sometime around the Presidential election.

The Bank of England or United Kingdom just sold its first negative-yielding Government bond on May 20, 2020.  In an auction Wednesday, the U.K. Debt Management Office said it sold £3.8 billion ($4.66 billion) worth of three-year gilts at a yield of -0.003%. This negative-yielding bond means the British government is effectively being paid to borrow. Investors will get back slightly less than they initially paid if they hold the bond to maturity, such is the demand for shoring up money in bonds.

I have not doubt in my mind the US Central Bank will also issue negative interest rates on or around the November election.  The US Central Bank will use the Coronavirus shutdown crisis as an excuse for why they are doing this to justify taking your savings to the American public.  The government won't let this crisis go to waste to continue its debt Ponzi scheme fraud.

Why would you pay the Government to hold your money? What does this mean for savers?

Why Everyone is Becoming an Activist

What is activism in this new politically biased fake news Coronavirus quarantine World? Why is it so important to express your 1st Amendment rights to free speech with your local Government? How can you make a difference by writing letters and engaging with local Facebook groups & local news media? 

There is not a person in this world who cannot admit that the Coronavirus data we have been consuming sucks. Public policy has now been established on this horrendous data and fear has parallelized most economies. You can also thank our fake news media that just regurgitated the propaganda without ever doing any research of due diligence.  

Most people think of activism as participating in a protest. However, I prefer is to be an activist by interpreting the news media and data. Information is power if properly communicated to the right individuals.  

The news media has lost all credibility with most intelligent people these days. However, it still has enormous power to influence behavior & Government decisions no matter how misinformed or misguided. I am not sure if I am angrier at the news media or Government officials for their emotional decision making and fear-based propaganda.  

Never in my lifetime have I seen this many people who are pissed off about National, State, County & Local Government policies surrounding Coronavirus. There are so many misguided Government policies to be disappointed in, that I don't even know where to start.  

I have said this from the very beginning of this crisis that our public officials are policy based on emotion and insanely inaccurate expert projections. There is one thing that has remained constant in this information crisis and that is the public data we are receiving is horrendous. There are so many expert data error examples that I don't even know where to start on this rant either. 

No one will admit that the projections health officials & medical tv experts were making in April and March were correct. Where are they now and why aren't we holding them accountable for their crap data? Most Government officials then proceeded to take these expert opinions and projections to feed the fear-mongering news media so they could scare everyone into staying home. 

The USA effectively shutdown the economy with Government policy that was based on false projections. Sweden was the only country that might have been skeptical and actually thought rationally about the outcome of this decision and just asked everyone to change their behavior without staying home. They are in the same position as the USA now but their economy is in way better shape. Short term pain and long term gain.  

Many local USA Government officials I have talked with said it was easy to shut down parks, beaches restaurants, and businesses with County health recommendations. However, the harder part is now convincing everyone to reopen.  

This pandemic or crisis of information started out with stay-at-home orders. We all followed the rules of washing our hands, wearing masks in grocery stores, and pretty much shut down everything in our lives. We all thought that 15 days of following orders to stay at home until Easter was reasonable and most people seemed to comply. The purpose of this was to flatten the curve or prolong the time for more people to get the virus. Aside from NY our hospitals had plenty of capacity and we accomplished this goal. 

Some would argue that staying at home was the only way to flatten the curve. However, some would argue that changes in behavior is what prevented the virus spread not staying home. Doing things like washing hands & social distancing is what flattened the curve. In my opinion, staying at home had little to do with flattening the curve because most of the Coronavirus cases were actually contracted in the home.

Here is an interesting cell phone data tracking study on how many people actually did follow the stay at home orders? The answer was 45-65% of the population actually stayed home. There was a large portion of the population who ignored the orders or were essential workers. The people who didn't stay home likely changed their behavior.  

So what happened on Easter, April 12 and why was the "goal post" get moved further out to April 30? Why did Trump give authority to the State Governors to establish stay at home orders? Why are the decisions to open up so political? Why did State & County health officials have so much power to make decisions?  Why wasn't more of this authority with local City Government officials?

There are so many questions of mismanagement that people like me are becoming activists and are asking practical questions of City and public officials that can't seem to answer. LA County is a great example of 11 million people that has 109 cities within the County. Each city experienced drastically different rates of infection, yet each city was subject to the same LA County draconian rules or recommendations.  

In cities where population density is greater the virus case rates are greater. It's just common sense that is being overlooked and not every city deserved that same rules.

Not letting each city manage and make their own public policy was a huge mistake. Just look at neighboring Orange County which has drastically different politics than LA County. OC is much more conservative and they kept their beaches open and have far fewer restrictions than very liberal LA County. Some Orange County Beach cities even had to file a lawsuit against the State of California to retain their rights.

My gut says if something like this pandemic ever happens again, each city or municipality needs to make its own decisions, what is best for themselves.  A one size fits all public policy is just plain ridiculous and stupid in large cities.  If you don't believe this assumption then you should just stop reading now because you don't understand economics anyway.

Local Government policy is what influences most of your life and why becoming an activist can really influence the policy of resisting change to keep a normal life. Influencing change at the County, State, or Federal Government level is nearly impossible unless you have major power, money, or influence. Most all of the local government policies are likely to affect you as a homeowner, renter, or small business owner.

The term that I keep hearing from the media and Government is "what is the new normal" going to look like? I really can't stand this term because it implies that we need to remake our entire economy or business practices. What happened to Free America, giving people and businesses choices about how to mitigate their own risks?  Has enough time passed to understand the virus and do we really have enough data to evaluate the risks of operating a normal society?  

What if I want to send my child to a normal school setting or have dinner in a sit-down restaurant? Shouldn't I have the choice of whether to take this risk or not?  Yes the virus is contagious but it's not that deadly if you look at the mortality rate of infection?  Walking across the street is probably more dangerous. 

Most people I speak with are not afraid of getting the virus and many people I know already have had the virus or now have the antibodies. Three people I know had the Coronavirus and also had flu shots. Just a coincidence or are you more susceptible to the virus if you had a flu shot?  Flu shots are an entirely different controversial discussion which you can read here. 

You have the choice to stay at home or send your child to an online school. No one is forcing you to do anything. Government officials have overreached their authority during this crisis and have no logical solutions on how and when to open up the economy or schools.   It is entirely possible that by August and September that we are even talking about the virus in the news because the spread is so rare.  Not a popular view but certainly possible with 3 months of warm weather. 

The only way officials seem to be responding is by legal threats similar to what Tesla's CEO Elon Musk did threatening to pull out of California. Unfortunately, most small businesses don't have the power and the influence that Elon Musk has and so they become easier targets of control without massive financial resources.

One brave city official in Manhattan Beach Suzanne Hadley suggested the following: 

"If I owned a business I would seriously consider just reopening and rolling the dice. Biz owners need to weigh their risk tolerance of legal action against them--as well as the costs of angering some customers and endearing themselves to others. Tough call. As an elected official I would stand with anyone who chose to reopen."

Class action lawsuits are probably going to be the only solution unfortunately for many things to open up and return to normal. City & public officials are way too risk-averse and seem to be taking a wait and see attitude in California instead of a leadership position. 

Public shaming on social media like Facebook seems to be another solution to get lawmakers to take action on certain issues. City council meetings are virtual now on Zoom or GoToMeeting so its harder for people to discuss public issues in person. However, more people are actually listening to these public meetings now and it is easy to share a video or sound clip after a meeting to spread the word on an issue. 

Public schools are going to be a hot topic of activism in the coming months as we get closer to fall. Making sure your school board is looking at all data sources and are not politically motivated in their decision making is going to be incredibly important. I have seen way too much confirmation bias when making decisions about data and we need to make sure there is a healthy PUBLIC discussion or debate on these issues. 

Get active on social media, write letters and don't be afraid to speak your opinion.  We are all in this together! 

Please submit your comments below or let us know about topics you would like us to cover. 

80% of Health Outcomes Are NOT Due To Medical Factors

The future of healthcare is really going to be driven by our ability to interpret social needs data. Having a guide and more data, so we can understand the patients’ lives beyond the four walls of the hospital.   A patient’s socioeconomic circumstances are the social determinants of health (SDOH).  Where you live also plays a big role in your health outcome and we call this physical environment of health (PEOH).

Eighty percent of what affects health outcomes is associated with factors outside the traditional boundaries of healthcare delivery—health behaviors (tobacco use, sexual activity), social and economic factors (employment, education, income), and physical environment (air quality, water quality). When healthcare delivery systems expand their interactions with people in these territories, now the purview of the public health system, outcomes will improve.

Social & physical determinants of health look at the following factors:

• Transportation
• Housing
• Financial 
• Food
• Substance abuse
• Sexual activity 
• Social isolation
• Education
• Employment 
• Air quality 
• Water quality 
• Access to green space, parksbeaches

Most Americans are affected by at least one SDOH or PEOH

The U.S. spends more on healthcare, yet has a lower life expectancy and worse health outcomes, than any other high-income nation according to study from the Commonwealth Fund.   Why the disparity? Other countries have been doing something the U.S. has not—applying public health concepts to chronic disease management.

The economic models of countries such as France, Germany, and Norway align with controlling costs while producing better outcomes. As an illustration, private healthcare spending in the U.S. is five times that of the second-highest spending country (Canada). And despite this astronomical private spend, the U.S. is also third-highest in public spending, despite only covering 34 percent of residents through public programs including Medicare and Medicaid.

Did you know that the USA and New Zealand are also the only Countries that allow big pharma drug advertising on television?  Most of my friends who grew up in England or Australia think the US is nuts for allowing this.

Approximately 3.6 million Americans struggle to access healthcare because they don’t have reliable transportation.

As many as 1 in 8 Americans are food insecure or dependent on a local food bank or meal delivery service, to address gaps in nutrition for better health outcomes.

78% of providers lack the data to identify patients' social needs

Many providers have basic demographic information on their patient populations but are missing the more sophisticated insights that could help them better support patients to prioritize health. So, what should you be looking for?

Here is a service provided by Experian that will give Doctors access to some social data.

How Much $ Does Your State Unemployment Trust Fund Have Left?

Many states entered the crisis with drastically inadequate unemployment compensation trust funds. Trust funds in California, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia are nearly or completely gone, with depletion imminent in Connecticut, Texas, Illinois, and Kentucky as well. According to these projections, a dozen states only have enough left in their funds to pay out a month’s worth of benefits based on those who have filed for or are receiving benefits to date; since payments lag claims, it may take an additional week or two for funds to be fully exhausted.

According to the Treasury Department, nine states—California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia—have already been approved for federal loans (called Title XII Advances) in anticipation of the exhaustion of their trust funds. States must repay these advances (with interest starting in 2021), and if they still have outstanding balances after two years, in-state businesses will face higher federal unemployment insurance taxes to compensate for the state being in arrears.

Mandatory business closures and shelter-in-place orders have radically accelerated job losses compared to the steadier pace of layoffs in prior recessions, meaning these claims likely represent a far greater share of the ultimate total than did any week’s claims during the Great Recession. But the numbers are still staggering, with every likelihood of sobering numbers in coming weeks as well.

This interactive tool below allows you to see how the most recent week’s initial unemployment compensation claims in each state compare to average and peak weekly claims during the Great Recession. Most states are woefully unprepared for the magnitude of the challenge ahead. Entering the crisis, 21 states’ unemployment compensation trust funds were below the minimum recommended solvency level to weather a recession. Six states had less than half the minimum recommended amount, representing 37 percent of the U.S. population.

Read Here for How Does Unemployment Insurance Work

Going forward it will be necessary to ensure that (1) those who lose their jobs have access to extended unemployment benefits that allow them to remain home throughout the crisis if they cannot be employed in a sector that is consistent with telework or appropriate social distancing, and (2) the taxes that fund unemployment insurance don’t overly burden businesses struggling to survive. It’s hard to accomplish both aims. To do it, the states will almost certainly require federal assistance. Higher taxes are coming whether you like it or not.

What is the news saying?

There are lots of news articles telling claimants and not to worry.   Here is another article from CNN saying that unemployment benefits will still be paid even if state funds run out.

How are States combating the likely massive unemployment fraud? 

Schools Could Offer an Online Option in the Fall

Schools Could Offer an Online Option

There will be a small percentage of parents that will refuse to send their kids to school and these parents will try and ruin it for everyone.  We need to provide parents and students with choices and not a classroom where "one size fits all". 

I keep hearing parents talk about the "new normal" and asking what is school going to look like in the Fall?  I frankly don't think school should look any different for students in the classroom.  However, there could be an online option for kids who don't feel comfortable at school. 

There have been studies that show kids don't pass the virus on to adults.  There have been almost zero cases of Covid-19 among young students and there is zero proof that any kids are passing this on to adults.  

If parents are freaked out about their kids getting the virus at school then maybe there should be an online option.  Most parents I speak with (apolitical) want their kids to be in a normal classroom setting in the Fall.  

The risks are far greater of kids developing learning and social disabilities spending too much time on the computer and not interacting with other kids and adults.  I have heard from several parents of kids with ADHD that online school is hurting their kids learning ability.  Kids need to interact and be social because its just what living life is about.  

Life is full of choices and risks.  Walking across the street is a risk and riding your bike to school is a risk.  Sending your kids to school is not a risk in my view.  Yes, kids are going to get sick and this is part of life that you are not going to change.  However, having an online school option will be a huge benefit so they don't just sit at home being sick and fall behind.  

Many schools recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars constructing security fences around perimeters and installed active shoot emergency plans.  This to me is a much higher risk than sending your kids to school who might get a virus that will have almost no harm to kids.  

I also don't think social distancing in the school should be made an issue either.   There is no point shrinking classroom sizes or sending kids to school on random days or odd hours to keep the class sizes smaller.  

I am not in favor of requiring masks for many reasons as doctors say that wearing a mask too long weakens immune systems and you can't breath properly.  This photo below of a Chinese classroom is frightening and in now way do I want our kids going to school in a Communist like environment.  

Having proper ventilation in a classroom is more important than having face masks or face shields.  I think our school boards need to focus on one thing only to open schools.  Ventilation of classrooms.  I don’t think a lot needs to change other than opening windows and doors for fresh air circulation will help a lot with spreading anything.  

Teachers are the one road block in this discussion if they want to come to school or want to provide an additional online environment.  There are many older teachers that probably could retire as a result of this virus and there are plenty of younger teachers willing to step in.  

Teachers unions are a complicated animal also that will likely want to block anything that creates more work or bureaucracy.   If teachers unions were to strike over the additional work or requirement to provide an online classroom alongside their normal classroom that wouldn't look very good right now.  School boards need to act now so teachers can prepare for providing an online environment.  

Having an online option for kids would not be that hard.  I would imagine the average school might have 10-20% of kids who might want to do an online only school.  If a child has a pre-existing condition or medical risk they can stay at home.  A separate classroom or teacher could be dedicated to these kids through the public school system.  This way it would not disrupt the learning environment of kids in a classroom and the teachers would not be distracted with tech support. 

There are lots of tools that are very easy to use like Zoom, GoToMeeting and Google Meet where students can interact with the classroom.  Google Classroom also provides an online environment of sharing work and taking tests.  

School boards are going to have to take charge and get their teachers and unions organized now.  They cannot politicize this virus and start redesigning the school system as a result of this crisis.  Herd immunity might be coming soon and it is questionable if a vaccine will ever be ready and even effective.    

The history of vaccines also shows that Government policies based around mandating vaccines are political.  Mandating kids get vaccines to attend school would be a massive mistake and would create a war among parents. 

I am also not in favor of testing kids or taking temperatures of kids entering the school either.  There is simply not enough data to support that kids have any greater risk getting the virus.  Imposing regulations on how kids are sent to school is a very slippery slope of regulation.  

A friend of mine read this and suggested that I need to go live in a "red state" if I want my kids to go back to school.  Hopefully he is wrong but it does concern me that opening of American has become political and only the red states are opening now and the blue states are way behind as of May.   

I think there are going to be lots of class action lawsuits on this issue organizing if blue states don't get their acts together and provide some clarity on their plans.  I could even see a scenario where the Federal Government might have to step in an mandate legislation to open.  

Senator Rand Paul, who had the Covid-19 virus expressed his view that opening schools in the Fall is a good idea since mortality rates among kids is near 0%. 

New Rental Scams Targeting People Looking For Places To Live

Vickie Comedy got my scammed renting an apartment in Hollywood

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) said it’s seen a 10% increase in rental scams where fraudsters trick renters into believing they have a unit to rent.

“I recently got scammed out of $2,000 trying to rent an apartment,” she said on the video.

It started last month, when she needed a new apartment.

She found an apartment through an online rental site Zillow. The landlord told her he wasn’t showing the apartment in person, due to coronavirus. Instead he showed her pictures.

Eisenstein signed a lease and paid the landlord $2,200 through a bank transfer.

But when she showed up at the apartment, she learned it was all a scam.

They swipe apartment images from other online listings. The names, pictures, even real estate license numbers that the landlord uses -- those are all stolen, too.

The Better Business Bureau agrees and says here are some red flags that a rental may not be legit.

• The supposed landlord won’t show the unit in person. 
• They want you to wire money or pay cash.
• They offer a below-market price.
• They want to rent the unit quickly.

Map of Covid-19 Infections by % of Population in Each County

Coronavirus Cases as a Percentage of Population by County

Aggregating data from many different official sources, this source provides a summary of COVID-19 cases in the world at the lowest granularity possible in each country.

Here is a another great map of Realtime Corona Virus Maps of Confirmed Cases

What we will learn from this crises is to lock down the vulnerable with pre-existing conditions. Not healthy people. 

Microsoft's PC Software Founded on April 4, 1975 Still Cannot Protect You From Viruses 45 Years Later

How Bill Gates Monopolized Global Health

Is profit or charity motivating Bill Gates to vaccinate the World?  I think Bill Gates has good intentions but the semantics don't look very good right now.

The same man who founded Microsoft and couldn't protect his own PC software company from viruses is trying to vaccinate the World?  Gates made billions of dollars from a planned obsolescence scheme for his Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, XP, Vista software.

Microsoft generates their revenues from PC sales to the average user once-every-three-years. Corporations and businesses spend millions of dollars to protect and upgrade their Windows environments annually. Protection against viruses is often the primary motivation to upgrade.

Microsoft PC software founded on April 4, 1975 still cannot protect you from a virus almost 45 years later.  Could never plug the holes in its' software that infects millions of computers with viruses each year.  These viruses take over your computer and require you to purchase the upgrade for the next version of software in order to get rid of all the viruses on your computers.  Billions of dollars were lost as a result of decade long computer pandemic.  

Huge anti-virus computer software companies like Symantec and McAfee were started to stop the spread of Windows PC viruses.  Companies and tech support people made and lost billions of dollars from faulty PC software that couldn't prevent viruses from infiltrating computers.  This was a huge scam based on faulty software.  

Meanwhile this opened the door for companies like Apple which had a much better method of protecting computers from viruses.  How many viruses have you ever had on your iPad, iPhone or Mac?

I grew up in the Midwest where trust is a huge principal of society.  Bill Gates has not earned my trust based on the way he has built his business over the last 50 years.  I also wrote this post because I can't stand hypocrisy. 

I am not anti vaccination for the most part.  However, right now I am skeptical on vaccines and think there needs to be a lot more input from many more sources on this issue.

How Widespread Is Unemployment Fraud?

An investigation into possible unemployment benefits fraud related to the coronavirus pandemic is expanding with as many as 2,000 cases in Rhode Island, authorities said.

State and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating fraudulent unemployment insurance claims submitted to the state Department of Labor and Training. The department has received roughly 2,000 reports to date from people who say they have been the victims of “imposter fraud,” agency spokeswoman Angelika Pellegrino said in an email.

If there are 2,000+ fraud cases in Rhode Island, how many fraud cases are there in the United States with 33M unemployed filing claims?   

The State of California is suing Uber and Lyft  

These two companies deny that their drivers are entitled to state unemployment insurance, as well as state-mandated paid sick leave and other employee benefits. The companies are thereby shirking their obligations to their workforce and shifting the burden onto drivers and taxpayers at a time when they are most vulnerable.

Uber and Lyft, in breaking California’s new law designating many workers in the so-called gig economy as employees, are pushing a financial burden onto taxpayers as the firms’ drivers are collecting unemployment benefits from funds the companies have not paid into, California’s Attorney General alleges.

What Do Drivers Think? Preliminary survey results and conversations with drivers overwhelming say 'no'. Is California going too far?

Anyone who believes their personal information has been used to file or secure a false claim is being asked to call the FBI’s or the state Department of Labor and Training.  Submit your FBI Fraud claims here.