'CEO of male hair loss and ED treatment brand is ‘eager’ to hire anti-Israel student protesters'

 The CEO of a male hair loss and erectile dysfunction treatment company said he is “eager” to hire anti-Israel protesters taking over college campuses in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Andrew Dudum, the Palestinian-American CEO of Hims, a telehealth and online pharmacy known for its suggestive New York City subway ads, shared a link to current openings and encouraged the student protesters to apply.

“Moral courage > College degree,” he wrote on X.

“If you’re currently protesting against the genocide of the Palestinian people & for your university’s divestment from Israel, keep going. It’s working.

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Hims CEO Andrew Dudum said he’d gladly hire anti-Israel student protesters.William C Lopez/New York Post
“There are plenty of companies & CEOs eager to hire you, regardless of university discipline,” he added alongside the Hims job openings link.

Dudum, who founded Hims in 2017 and has family in Gaza and the West Bank, marks a contrast from many company leaders with his remarks as students at more and more colleges across the country join the wave of protests.

Bill Ackman, head of Pershing Square Capital Management, was one of the first to say he wouldn’t hire students from Harvard who signed a letter allegedly blaming Israel for Hamas’ violent Oct. 7 attack.

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“Moral courage > College degree,” Dudum wrote on X.X / AndrewDudum

Additional Wall Street tycoons have since echoed his statements.

A top corporate recruiter told The Post last week that he’s begun to reconsider where he’s finding job candidates as many Ivy League schools and other top colleges have been plagued by the protests that critics have claimed are antisemitic.

“We are looking for high-quality candidates but we’re going to be looking at different places,” activist investor and Columbia grad Daniel Loeb said.

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Dudum is an outlier among company leaders as others have said they will refuse to hire the protesters even from Ivies.X / @AndrewDudum

The students are demanding their universities divest from Israel over its retaliatory offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians — including 13,800 innocent children, according to Hamas-controlled health officials in the territory.

Israel’s relentless attacks were in response to Hamas terrorists’ brutal massacre of nearly 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.

US college students have created tent encampments on their campuses and taken over university buildings in protests that have sometimes turned destructive and violent.

Police have been called to several of the protests to arrest students.

https://nypost.com/2024/05/02/us-news/male-hair-loss-and-ed-treatment-brand-ceo-is-eager-to-hire-anti-israel-student-protesters/

Europe Scraps Net Zero, Biden Should But Won’t, Why?

 “Unaffordable climate commitments have two leftist British parties racing to exit stage left.”

Europeans Ditch Net Zero

The Wall Street Journal reports Europeans Ditch Net Zero, While Biden Clings to It

You know you’ve stumbled through the looking glass when European politicians start sounding saner on climate policy than the Americans do. Well here we are, Alice: Europeans are admitting the folly of net zero quicker than their American peers.

The latest example—perhaps “victim” is more apt—is Humza Yousaf, who resigned this week as Scotland’s first minister. That region within the U.K. enjoys substantial devolved powers over its own affairs, including on climate policy. An administration led by Mr. Yousaf’s left-leaning Scottish National Party had hoped to rush ahead of the national government in London in slashing carbon emissions.

Until, that is, someone noticed the costs. A recent report from the U.K.’s Climate Change Committee noted Scotland had fallen far behind on its climate goals. The government aimed to reduce by 20% the aggregate distance driven by Scottish motorists, compared with 2019 levels, but had no plan to accomplish the reduction in personal mobility by the 2030 deadline. To get back on track with the government’s goal of a transition to home electric heat pumps, Scotland would have to replace natural-gas fire boilers at a rate of more than 80,000 households a year by the end of the decade. That’s a big ask considering that in 2023 it managed 6,000 boiler replacements. The government resisted imposing an aviation tax to discourage excess flying. And so on.

Mr. Yousaf did the only thing he could under the circumstances: He all but abandoned net zero. His administration announced it is ditching firm annual emission-reduction targets in favor of fuzzier “carbon budgets.” The Green Party, with which Mr. Yousaf’s SNP governed in a coalition, balked. After a series of political machinations that were one part “Macbeth” and two parts “Comedy of Errors,” Mr. Yousaf’s administration collapsed and he was forced to resign.

Observe two salient details. First, the specific list of targets the country was missing. Scotland had reached the point where further net-zero progress would have made obvious and material demands of household budgets. That isn’t counting the additional costs of renewable power hidden in utility bills.

I have discussed the above ideas many times. There are farm protests in nearly every country on the main continent and Greens are likely to get clobbered hard in the European Parliament elections in June.

What About the US?

The Journal reports “The puzzlement is that the U.S. is headed in the opposite direction. President Biden is pressing ahead with aggressive net-zero policies such as an electric-vehicle mandate and pouring trillions of dollars of borrowed government and hard-earned household money into climate boondoggles.“

There is no puzzle. Biden is owned 100% by the Progressives.

They control climate policy, regulations, student loans, abortion, everything.

Please note Biden Promotes Climate Change at the Expense of More Global Poverty

The mad rush to deal with climate change, even if it works (it won’t), has a nasty tradeoff (more global poverty).

Biden will not do anything to offend the Progressives, even if it means he loses the election over it.

https://mishtalk.com/economics/europe-scraps-net-zero-biden-should-but-wont-why/

Ralph Baric Admits Covid-19 Lab Origin Possible

 by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A top scientist said in newly disclosed testimony that a lab origin for the virus that causes COVID-19 is possible, citing how Chinese scientists operated in less-than-ideal conditions.

“You can’t rule that out,” Ralph ['humanized mice for testing bat Covid'] Baric, a University of North Carolina professor and member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, said in the testimony.

Mr. Baric pointed to how researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, located near where the first cases of COVID-19 were detected, conducted experiments on viruses under biosafety level two conditions, rather than the biosafety level three conditions typically employed elsewhere.

Mr. Baric has for years worked with Shi Zhengli and other Wuhan scientists, testing enhanced viruses in work they say helps prepare for outbreaks by making it easier to develop countermeasures such as vaccines.

Ms. Zhengli and other scientists in Wuhan were doing culturing work under biosafety level two conditions into 2020, “which I thought was irresponsible,” Mr. Baric said. That was “one of the main reasons why I felt that the potential laboratory escape hypothesis shouldn’t be, in essence, put under the rug.”

He was speaking on Jan. 22 to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. The panel released the transcript on May 1.

Mr. Baric, who holds a doctorate in microbiology, told the subcommittee that he favored the theory that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has a natural origin due in part to the odds being tilted that way.

“What’s more likely, is it a lab leak or is it natural processes? You’re looking at ... a million exposures [between nature and humans] occurring over 17 years versus what happens in a laboratory setting,” Mr. Baric testified. He said that the diversity in nature ran hundreds of millions of times larger than the viruses in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “If you consider that, it’s more likely to be a natural event than it is to come out of the laboratory,” he said.

Experts around the world remain divided on the origins of the pandemic. Some believe the available evidence supports a lab origin, highlighting how Chinese authorities destroyed evidence from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the lower safety standards there. Others say data from a wet market in Wuhan suggest a natural origin.

Mr. Baric said he reviewed the data from the market and described it as showing the market was a “site of amplification.” But he noted that the studies suggest cases there didn’t appear until December 2019, while other papers have indicated cases started earlier in China.

“Clearly, the market was a conduit for expansion,” he said. “Is that where it started? I don’t think so.”

Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance organization—which for years sent U.S. taxpayer money to the WIV—signed an open letter published by The Lancet in 2020 that said, “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that COVID-19 does not have a natural origin.”

Questioned about the definitive statement, Mr. Daszak told the panel on Wednesday that “we take all theories seriously” and that a lab origin for SARS-CoV-2 remains “possible but extremely unlikely, based on the evidence we have.”

“I just don’t think the data are there to support that. And I think that the evidence that this came from a natural spillover is huge and growing every week,” he added.

Mr. Baric said he was asked to sign the Lancet letter but declined because of his work with WIV. Mr. Daszak did not disclose his work with WIV in the conflicts of interest section. Mr. Baric instead signed a letter calling for an investigation into the origins that said “theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable.”

John Ratcliffe, a former director of national intelligence, told the subcommittee in 2023 that the lab leak theory “is the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science, and by common sense.” A declassified assessment that year said five intelligence agencies assess natural origin as more likely while two others lean towards a lab origin. Most agencies say the virus was not genetically engineered and all believe it was not developed as a biological weapon.

Xavier Becerra, the U.S. health secretary, said at a summit in April that any ideas about the origin are “speculation” because China has withheld some data. “We’re never going to quite know unless China opens up some more,” he said.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/ralph-baric-admits-covid-19-lab-origin-possible

Jim Jordan Drops "Smoking Gun" Over White House 'Lab Leak' Suppression At Facebook

 Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH) has released several new pieces of previously unseen information revealing what Elon Musk called a "smoking gun" in regards White House pressure on Facebook to censor the lab leak theory of Covid-19.

First, Jordan shares a text message from Mark Zuckerberg to Sheryl Sandberg, Nick Clegg and Joel Kaplan - the company's highest-ranking executives at the time, in which he asks if Facebook can tell the world that "the [Biden] WH put pressure on us to censor the lab leak theory?" - hours after Biden accused Facebook of "killing people."

 Clegg responded that the Biden White house is "highly cynical and dishonest," while Sandberg said that they were being scapegoated because the White House wasn't hitting its vaccination numbers.

Facebook felt, in fact, that they had been 'combating misinformation,' (aka censoring Americans) all year.

Then in late May of 2021, Facebook finally stopped removing content regarding the lab leak theory - though they did demote it. When employees told Zuckerberg about the reversal and explained why they censored the lab leak theory in the first place, Zuckerberg replied that this is what happens when Facebook "compromises [its] standards due to pressure from an administration."

According to Elon Musk, this is a "Smoking gun First Amendment violation."

We know the feeling!

 https://www.zerohedge.com/political/jim-jordan-drops-smoking-gun-over-white-house-lab-leak-suppression-facebook

Avian Flu Virus Is Spreading. Should We Be Concerned?

 The progressive spread of a highly infectious strain of avian flu virus infections to more mammal species is a concern to scientists, public health officials, and farmers. However, the publicly released genomic data do not include critical information on the outbreak’s origins and evolution.

Wikimedia Commons

Four months ago, we wrote about the surge of the H5N1 bird flu strain that had by then already killed tens of millions of birds in various parts of the U.S. and land and marine animals in the U.S. and other countries. Since then, the avian flu has jumped to cows and goats, surprising experts. It has been reported in 34 herds of dairy cows in nine states, but the outbreak is unquestionably much more extensive than that; fragments of bird flu virus genomic RNA have been detected in more than 20 percent of retail milk samples tested in a nationally representative study.  Also, recently released viral sequences from animal infections provided by USDA indicate that the outbreak likely began in December 2023, with a single spillover incident from birds into cows.

Although these findings surprised health officials, they say there is at present little concern that milk containing infectious virus will make it into the food supply. Dairies must destroy milk from sick cows, and pasteurization is believed to kill the virus in milk from infected cows that have not yet been identified as ill. Sensitive tests have not detected infectious virus in milk, but federal officials are advising not to drink raw milk or eat raw milk-based cheese.

A worrisome development is that a man working on a Texas dairy farm was diagnosed with illness from the avian flu strain, presumably from contact with an infected cow. It is only the second known case in the U.S. of a human contracting avian flu.

H5N1 avian flu lethal in humans

Infections by the current virus strain have been increasing since the 1990s as the world poultry population soared to meet escalating food demand. H5N1 avian flu claimed its first known human victims in 1996-97 in China and Hong Kong, spread to Cambodia in 2003, and then reappeared with a vengeance a decade ago.  

According to the WHO, most of the H5N1 infections and deaths occurred in Egypt, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

We wrote in January:

Despite limited examples of person-to-person transmission, there are no known examples of widespread, sustained transmission among humans or any mammals for that matter. However, virus evolution called “antigenic shift” could give rise to the emergence of novel viral subtypes able to target mammals.

As often happens in the infectious disease world, circumstances have changed dramatically in just a few months. The discovery of H5N1 bird flu in dozens of herds of dairy cows across the U.S. has sparked worry and a call for more transparency from the government — specifically, the USDA. While this strain of bird flu is not new, it had never before been found in cattle. It has now affected herds in at least eight states, with some cows showing reduced milk production and discolored, viscous milk.

Scientists and public health experts are particularly concerned about the virus spreading more widely in cows and mutating to readily infect humans.

Transparency concerns

Many experts have criticized the USDA for not being more forthcoming with information about the outbreak. Their concerns include:

• How is the virus spreading between cow herds — through cattle movement, contaminated feed or milking machines, or wild birds?
• Whether the outbreaks in different herds are connected. Are they all linked to a single source in Texas, or are there independent outbreaks happening – perhaps via a new strain of H5N1 in wild birds?
• The effect of pasteurization on H5N1. Farmers are being told to discard milk from infected cows, although the USDA, the FDA, and the CDC all say they believe pasteurization would kill the viruses. However, that is based on work previously done on other pathogens.

This lack of transparency is hindering the science community’s efforts to understand the outbreak and develop effective control measures. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota Medical School, argues that clear communication is crucial for managing outbreaks successfully:

[Government officials] are creating the perception that something is happening or not happening that would not meet with the public’s approval.  And this is really unfortunate. There’s no evidence here that there’s some kind of a smoking gun, that somebody did something wrong. Just tell us what you’re doing. And that’s not happening.

Risk of further spread

There is reason for grave concern if not (yet) panic.  As we related in our January article:

The deadliest recent twist is the spread of H5N1 to mammals. Brazil recently reported the deaths of more than 900 seals and sea lions, and thousands more were found dead last summer in Chile and Peru.

Washington State is on alert after dozens of seals showed up dead off the Olympic peninsula, alarming scientists. H5N1 has also infected large numbers of foxes, raccoons, skunks, grizzly bears and dolphins. Local authorities in all of these areas are scrambling to contain its spread, and warning humans not to touch the dead animals.

The H5N1 virus has the potential to mutate and increase its host range further. During the past few months, Texas reported its detection in cats from several dairy farms experiencing H5N1 outbreaks in cows. It is unknown whether the virus spread to the cats from affected dairy cows, raw cow milk, or wild birds associated with those farms.

Public health authorities are concerned that the virus could mutate and become capable of human-to-human transmission, which would be disastrous since it has a reported case-fatality rate of over 50% in humans. And although the true case-fatality rate may be significantly lower than that because of the presence of asymptomatic infections, it is noteworthy that during the calamitous 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, the case-fatality rate was only about 2%.

Another concern is that pigs, which can be infected by avian and human flu, could be infected simultaneously (coinfected) by pig and human viruses. That could lead to the reassortment of segments of RNA that comprise the flu virus genome and give rise to a new strain that is more transmissible to people.

Looking for answers

USDA’s frequently asked questions document, posted on its website, offers much information about what is currently known, recommended, or underway. It includes the following:

• "Tests so far indicate that the virus detected in dairy cows is …the same clade [i.e., variant] that has been affecting wild birds and commercial poultry flocks and has caused sporadic infections in several species of wild mammals, and neonatal goats in one herd in the United States.”
• "The spread of the H5N1 virus within and among herds indicates that bovine to bovine spread occurs, likely through mechanical means.  As a result, we are encouraging producers and veterinarians to minimize dairy cattle movement.” 
• "Unlike in poultry flocks where H5N1 is fatal, among the dairies whose herds are exhibiting symptoms, the affected animals have recovered with little to no associated mortality reported.”
• "Based on information available at this point [April 16], we do not anticipate that this [outbreak] will impact the availability or the price of milk or other dairy products for consumers.”
• "Recent detections of H5N1 in poultry have slowed.  As of April 15, 2024, there have been 26 detections of H5N1 in commercial poultry facilities in 2024, which is like the number in January-April of 2023 (19 detections).  Both years are showing significant decreases in the number of detections compared to 2022, when we saw 165 detections in the January-April period.”
• "At this stage, we do not anticipate the need to depopulate [i.e., cull] dairy herds.  Unlike HPAI (H5N1) in birds which is typically fatal, little to no mortality has been reported and the animals are reportedly recovering.  The affected cows on the dairy farms are currently being isolated from other animals.”
• It is noteworthy that avian flu has been detected only in dairy herds but not beef cow herds.
• "FDA’s longstanding position is that unpasteurized, raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks to consumers, and FDA is reminding consumers of the risks associated with raw milk consumption in light of the H5N1 detections.”

An important development would be the appointment of a prominent, knowledgeable government official as the point person for this rapidly developing situation, because the current precarious situation highlights the importance of the rapid accumulation and promulgation of information in managing outbreaks. USDA, CDC, and FDA’s sharing of information freely and quickly would allow scientists, public health officials, and farmers to work together to assess and reduce risks.  However, up to now, the publicly released data do not include critical information on the outbreak’s origins and evolution. “In an outbreak response, the faster you get data, the sooner you can act,” says genomic epidemiologist Martha Nelson. “Whether we’re not too late, to me, that’s kind of the million dollar question.”

An earlier version of this article was published by the Genetic Literacy Project.

Henry I. Miller, a physician and molecular biologist, is the Glenn Swogger Distinguished Fellow at the American Council on Science and Health. He was the founding director of the FDA’s Office of Biotechnology. Find Henry on X @HenryIMiller

Kathleen L. Hefferon is an instructor in microbiology at Cornell University. Find her on X @KHefferon

https://www.acsh.org/news/2024/04/30/avian-flu-virus-spreading-and-has-been-found-raw-milk-infected-cows-should-we-be-concerned-17794

'When Did Progressives Learn to Love Health Insurers?'

 As long as I have been in politics, I have been keenly aware of the role that health insurers play in driving up health costs in the U.S. Let’s be frank: health insurance companies profit by denying medical care and try and hold Democrats hostage by demanding we either go along with their money-making schemes, or that they will walk away from the insurance markets critical to ensuring the continued success of Obamacare. 

I resent this ultimatum and believe that we should be expanding access to Medicare for even more Americans, in order to diminish the influence of the health insurers. Of course, no one wants to eliminate the health insurance industry entirely, because for some customers (like government employees and union members), they do offer good coverage. 

But, let me run some numbers by you that should concern you about the state of the health insurance industry in the U.S. According to the most recent statistics from the federal government, our National Health Expenditure (NHE) in 2022 “grew 4.1% to $4.5 trillion in 2022, or $13,493 per person, and accounted for 17.3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)…[and] “Private health insurance spending grew 5.9% to $1,289.8 billion in 2022, or 29 percent of total NHE.” 

And, according to a report from Reuters, “Over one third of all healthcare costs in the U.S. were due to insurance company overhead and provider time spent on billing.” In other words, about a third of the nearly $1.3 trillion we give to health insurers goes to bureaucratic overhead, not healthcare. 

Looking at the profits of the biggest health insurers in 2023, is even more discouraging: “UnitedHealth Group: $22.4 billion,” “CVS Health: $8.3 billion,” “Elevance Health: $6 billion,” and “Cigna Group: $5.2 billion.” 

According to a recent report in Axios, “the revenues of six for-profit parent companies making up nearly 30% of total U.S. health spending last year.” But one of the most surprising aspects of this outrageous situation with insurers, is that Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), on MSNBC, in a segment about the diabetes and weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, claims that the reason for their high prices is that the drug company who makes these medications overcharges the health insurers. 

Sanders claims that the drug maker, Novo Nordisk, charges insurers more than they offer the same drugs for in some European countries so he is investigating them. While the company does charge more in the U.S., it doesn’t tell the whole story. The drug maker also gives rebates to health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who are both supposed to negotiate lower prices for patients with these rebates.  

But there is no assurance that even if Novo Nordisk did lower their cost to insurers and PBMs, that patients would save. This is because the PBMs and insurers typically take those rebates and pocket the cost savings. In fact, this is why the Federal Trade Commission is investigating PBMs for “negotiating rebates and fees with drug manufacturers that may…impact the costs of prescription drugs to payers and patients.” In other words, PBMs are not passing their cost savings onto Americans. 

Or, another line of the FTC inquiry is that PBMs have become vertically integrated, merging with insurance companies and pharmacies. These vertically integrated corporations often demand drug companies offer (secretly negotiated) rebates that if they don’t get, they then deny patients access to those medications. Which means that either the drug companies go along with the shakedown, or they can’t sell their drugs to patients. But again, even if the drug makers do lower their prices and offer even bigger rebates to the insurer or PBM, there is no guarantee any of those cost savings are realized by the patient. 

Also from Axios, what the FTC should additionally be considering about health insurers is that,: “Three of them processed nearly 80% of prescription claims last year, one of them is owned by the nation's largest pharmacy chain and one has become the largest U.S. employer of doctors.

Ultimately, if the insurance companies and the PBMs helped to ensure lower drug prices, but are having the opposite effect, maybe someone should do something. Senator Bernie Sanders is chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, which has jurisdiction to hold the insurers and PBMs accountable. If we really want lower drug prices in this country, putting all of the blame on drug companies is ineffective because of the role insurers and PBMs play to inflate the price of medications. 

Of course, I don’t think Bernie Sanders – a member of the Democratic Socialists of America – loves health insurers and PBMs. I believe that he thinks that he can have more success in lowering drug prices by putting pressure on the pharmaceutical industry. But, this punishes the drug company that created lifesaving and life changing treatments like Ozempic and Wegovy, and rewards the middle men who drive up drug costs. This is neither progressive nor the way to lower the price of healthcare in America. 

Hank Naughton is the Executive Director of the Centrist Democrats of America

https://www.realclearhealth.com/blog/2024/05/02/when_did_progressives_learn_to_love_health_insurers_1028903.html