« November 2020 | Main | January 2021 »
Have a Happy New Year, and a Healthy one, all year through!
We shouldn't ever forget 2020, but we shouldn't dwell there any longer. We live today not just for today, but in this case for tomorrow as well. We owe nothing less to the people who cannot be here with us today. So, in their name and ours, let's lift up a toast to all our tomorrows!
Happy and Healthy New Year in 2021!
COVID Christmas FaceTime (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
The good news that vaccines are on the way is welcome. Welcome, even though the good news is tempered by the news that inoculations are not moving very fast at all, and as usual, there is no plan. So 2020.
Still, it is good news that vaccines are on the way. And in the meantime, we're still here. Pundits pundit -- isn't that what pundits do, namely, pundit? -- that it may be Spring, it may be Summer, or maybe they don't really know when large numbers of people in the United States will get inoculated.
And in the meantime, we're still here. We can do this. We have been waiting so long that a few more months of waiting will not kill us. Reports continue of deaths and hospitalizations even as we wait to receive the vaccines.
COVID Coffins (Associated Press)
We hope and pray. For ourselves and for one another. So help us God.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
Nursing home workers fight to protect patients. They fight the pandemic, they fight conditions, and they stand up to nursing home management to protect patients.
Nursing home workers are heroes.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Please read the disclaimer ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Louis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The good news is in the title of this article. Happy Holidays to All, and to All a Happy New Year every day throughout the year to come in 2021!
(Andrew Burton / New York Times) The reports are dribbling in. Congress included legislation in the coronavirus relief bill that may be good even after the pandemic is past. The legislation is in the details, which still have to be released to the public.
In the meantime, the reports offer some valuable information. First, rather than charging patients, "health providers will now have to work with insurers to settle on a fair price." Sarah Kliff and Margot Sanger-Katz, Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress is Finally Set to Ban Most of Them. NEW YORK TIMES, Tuesday, December 22, 2020, p. B4 (headline enhanced online as shown here).
Second, the new changes will take effect in 2022.
Third, the out-of-network "health providers" that cannot 'surprise bill' patients from then on include "doctors, hospitals and air ambulances, though not ground ambulances." Id.
In other words, ground ambulances will still be able to send their surprise medical bills to patients to pay even though the patients were not conscious or had no idea that insurance would not pay for the ambulance.
This is a good law. But there is more work to do. That too is all to the good and should not take away from what good this law will do.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Andrew Burton / New York Times) Congress included legislation in the coronavirus relief bill that may be good even after the pandemic is past. "It contains a ban on surprise medical bills that happen when patients unexpectedly receive care from an out-of-network health provider. Instead of sending those charges to patients, hospitals and doctors will now need to work with health insurers to settle the bills." Emily Cochrane, Congress Reaches Deal on Virus Aid, Ending an Impasse, NEW YORK TIMES, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020, p. A1.
This new piece of legislation may have little to do with the pandemic, but we do not want to give it back. This is probably the last legislative package that this Congress will pass. A new Congress takes its seats on January 3d. So, this may have been now-or-never legislation.
We will see how the reporting and thinking about this plays out over time. For now, we should be happy it is in the bill that Congress is likely to pass and send to the president for signature to become law.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)
Jeffrey A. Rosen is his name. He is the Current Occupant of the U.S. Department of Justice now that Bill Barr has announced his departure.
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has accomplished many things in his tenure as Mr. Barr's Deputy since April 2019. Among them are four things worth highlighting (forgive me for going beyond a list of just three things, there are too many to ignore here once you start learning about them):
There is another issue pending right now, and that is the issue of appointing a "special prosecutor" to investigate Hunter Biden, son of the President-Elect, for alleged violation of unspecified federal criminal laws. Mr. Barr refused to do this. One ground of Barr's refusal was apparently that there is no "special prosecutor" law that would justify the appointment of a "special prosecutor." Mr. Rosen's present position is not known in the sense that he has not said what his position is on this issue, but of course we have a long list of Mr. Rosen's accomplishments from the time before he took over for the Current Occupant.
What has been said here is not a frightening warning as in the corporate media, for example, to "Be afraid, be very afraid." This is an article saying instead, "Be aware, be very aware." As of this writing, there are more than 30 days to go in the Current Occupancy. As was said in the movie, Gettysburg, "Keep a clear eye."
"The Justice Department has not provided a statement about Mr. Rosen's intentions in response to a request." NEW YORK TIMES, Wed., Dec. 16, 2020, A18. Parenthetically, by the time this print article made it online, the sentence I have just quoted was removed.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
The caption to these two photographs in Tuesday's print edition of The New York Times says everything that should be said and is not being said often enough:
(Victor J. Blue / New York Times)
(Victor J. Blue / New York Times)
"Supporters of President Trump gathered at the Washington Monument for one of several rallies in Washington on Saturday. The crowd at Freedom Plaza, left, was far smaller than the one that gathered there shortly after Election Day."
NEW YORK TIMES, print edition, p. A18, Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Image by NASA)
One of my Aunts was a person to behold on Ouija. She could make it go so fast you could hardly keep up reading what it was spelling out. And in her hands it always spelled out something.
One evening at a time when my brother was in the Air Force and there was a War in Vietnam, Ouija spelled out "sea" while my Aunt was at the Ouija Board.
"Sea?," we all asked. I recall saying that my brother was not very likely to enlist in the Navy and serve at sea.
Sometime later our consensus take on what Ouija spelled out that night was that my brother was going to Southeast Asia. "SEA" became a widely known acronym later, but it was not widely known that night, in fact, it was hardly known at all then.
Without telling his family, my brother re-enlisted in the Air Force. Soon after, he got orders sending him to Vietnam in, yes, SEA, Southeast Asia.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
In yesterday's article I asked a question.
Much has been written and said about the Occupant's behavior dampening the enthusiasm of voters for Georgia's Republican Senatorial candidates.
The question I posed yesterday was about the behavior of the President-Elect and whether his behavior dampens the enthusiasm of workers for Georgia's Democratic Senatorial candidates.
My answer is that I will continue to work as hard as I can to elect Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senator in the Georgia runoff election.
My answer is the promise of things unseen.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
I have been putting in quite a few hours since November 3rd working to get the two Democratic Senate candidates elected in the Georgia runoff.
I stopped and listened to an audio tape of Joe Biden this morning. He was giving a speech which was not public, but which was recorded anyway. He was asked if he would 'advance the Progressive agenda by executive action,' and he replied that he would not because he would only exercise the powers of president that are granted by the Constitution.
Fair enough, as far as it goes.
Then Joe added something he did not have to say. He attacked Progressives, saying that the other side (apparently meaning his opponents) had 'smeared us' with the charge 'that we were saying, "defund the police,'" and said that's why Democratic Senate and House candidates were not re-elected or elected as he and many of the rest of us had hoped.
I call BS.
Joe, your opponents used the same "defund the police" claim against you, and you won.
More than that, Joe, your opponents called you a "socialist," and you won.
You were fortunate in the choice of your opponent, as they say, Joe.
The Democratic candidates for other offices lost more than they should have, or at least more than many of us expected, because they did not have a message. They could not respond to charges that they wanted to "defund the police" and that they were "socialists" because they didn't have a message. That is why they lost.
Progressives did not lose their seats. They too were accused of wanting to defund the police and being socialists, but they did not lose.
Instead, Joe, Progressives turned out in numbers to support you. Progressives and the choice of your opponent gave you the win, not rich people who want a return to power. None of us long for the return of the Clintonistas or, for that matter, for a third Obama term.
We have been hoping for fresh faces and new programs.
But if all you have to offer is the same tired people and their programs, then why should any of us work to elect a Senate that will work with you to restore the same tired people and their programs to power over us? They did not do such a good job for people who are not rich and elitist.
They are responsible for the Occupant you ran against. But they are not responsible for the fact that your race was successful. Get your stuff together, Joe. The face of your party has changed, the policies your party wants are different from the past.
If you think differently, there may be no reason to work so hard to elect the Democratic Senatorial candidates from Georgia.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Bernat Armangue / Associated Press)
Vaccine distributors Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca are the Big Three in the race to promote vaccines.
Pfizer and Moderna are pretty certain to make the most money. They have the inside track on having their vaccines purchased from governments. Already, Pfizer's vaccine is now being bought by Britain for some form of distribution in the U.K.
Here's what the Big Three have reportedly said and contracted to do with regard to their vaccine sales in the U.S. and across the world.
PFIZER
The current U.S. federal government pre-ordered doses of Pfizer's vaccine. The federal taxpayers are paying, but for what price remains to be found. Additional charges: Free to the first 100 million doses, $20.00 charge to each user, added on to the contract price Pfizer charged to the American administration.
As is now being widely reported, Pfizer's vaccine treatment requires two (2) doses.
MODERNA
Moderna also contracted with the current federal government relative to its vaccines. The amount Moderna is going to charge will depend on how much is ordered, but the range Moderna announced is $10.00 to $50.00 per dose, apparently after the lower-cost doses purchased by the current federal government are administered.
"The U.S. has secured 100 million doses for Americans at the cost of $15 per dose." Higher prices are expected as the government programs come to an end.
Moderna too requires two (2) doses of its vaccine.
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca has agreed that the current U.S. regime can buy its vaccine for something less than $4.00 per dose.
Less effective than either Pfizer or Moderna report in press releases so far, AstraZeneca has done something that neither Pfizer or Moderna has done, or will do: AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine will be sold at cost "in perpetuity" to the developing world.
AstraZeneca belongs to a group called Colvax which aims to distribute Two Billion doses to 92 low- and middle-income countries with a price cap of $3.00 per dose.
Pfizer has not joined the Colvax vaccine distribution initiative.
Neither has Moderna.
See Sissi Cao, COVID-19 Vaccine Prices Revealed From Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, OBSERVER, posted online Nov. 23, 2020.
Profits are priorities for many people, even in a business that affects the health of the rest of the world's people.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
Registered Nurses at Candlelight Vigil for COVID-19 patients in hospital. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
We know the statistics. As of last Thursday, the United States reported more than 216,000 confirmed COVID-19 infections.
Reportedly there were more than 2,800 deaths that day alone. The official death toll in my State, Florida, is reported as 19,000 now but this is in doubt. Some read Centers for Disease Control (CDC) studies as suggesting that the death toll in Florida could have been as high as 23,000 just as of October.
Also, there were some 101,000 people in hospitals in the United States with COVID-19 as of last Thursday, December 3, 2020.
Enough with the statistics. They have already sunk in with most people. As with all things, it seems, a loud but definite few still need to see pictures before they will believe.
On this Pearl Harbor Day 2020, it is therefore appropriate to say "Praise the Lord and Pass the Photographs."
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
Now PTS is part of the pandemic's daily hazard to frontline health care workers.
COVID19 ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY NURSE CATHERINE BEST, in AARP Article on COVID19 (Courtesy Catherine Best).
Frontline health care workers are tired. More than tired. They take precautions against Covid every day, but every day they endanger their own health and their own lives, and the lives and health of their loved ones.
Frontline health care workers have been combatting the coronavirus pandemic for 9 or in some cases 10 months now. Yet significant numbers of the potential patient population have not been combatting Covid. Not even by the simple act of wearing a mask, or using hand sanitizer, or even keeping a social distance, all to avoid infecting others and being infected themselves.
Potential patients become patients. When people enter hospitals, frontline health care workers care for the Covid patients. It's their job. And they watch patients die.
That's not their job. It should not be anyone's job to watch people die who did not need to die especially if all they needed to do in life was wear a mask and depend on others to wear a mask too.
"Jill Naiberk, a nurse at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has spent more of 2020 in full protective gear than out of it."
"'I keep telling everybody the minute I can safely hug you again, get ready,' she said. 'Because I'm never letting go.'" Nurse Jill Naiberk, quoted in Combat Fatigue, NEW YORK TIMES (Print Dec. 1, 2020; online Nov. 25, 2020).
"Because I'm never letting go." Among the many wrongs done by Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate in silently following the Occupant's lead is the effect they have had on frontline health care workers. Medical workers keep seeing so many people hurt and die for so many months that they think that they are not making a difference.
Mitch McConnell and the Senate have done the pandemic too little, and have confirmed unqualified judges too much.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Lexis Nexis)
I left the following Comments earlier today on a rule proposed by the Small Business Administration that would extend benefits to large businesses that are now available only to small businesses within the SBA's jurisdiction.
Small Business Size Standards: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting; Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction; Utilities; Construction
Docket No.: SBA-2020-0049.
RIN: 3245-AG89.
This rule was proposed by the Small Business Administration. It is part of the SBA's statutory review of programs within its jurisdiction that are based on size of revenue or income. However, the reach of the proposed rule exceeds SBA's jurisdiction.
The SBA's summary describes that the proposed rule changes collection information and sources of data regarding intake of income, i.e., receipts of money, as used in SBA "Size Standards Methodology" to determine qualification for low-interest loans and contracts. ‘‘SBA seeks comments on its proposed changes to size standards in the above sectors, and the data sources it evaluated to develop the proposed size standards." 85 FR at 62239.
The proposed rule would affect income limitations the Small Business Administration uses to measure "small businesses" for purposes of low-interest loans and contracting administered by the SBA. Proposed changes would allow the entry of large businesses to the loans and contracting programs reserved by Congress for small businesses. Further, the income limits themselves would remain the same as they were before the pandemic limited receipt of revenue for most businesses and certainly for small businesses. The combination of proposed changes and proposed inaction would have the effect of closing the loans and contracting programs to most small businesses whereas larger businesses would meet the income requirements even after accounting for the pandemic.
The proposed rule is beyond the SBA's jurisdiction and is unauthorized. The proposed rule is contrary to the statutory mandate given to the SBA by Congress in this regard. For all these reasons, whether taken separately or together, the proposed rule should be withdrawn. It should not be issued.
Thank you for your consideration of these Comments.
Please read the disclaimer. This article ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
(Florida Consumer Protection Law Committee announcement for Holland & Knight webinar. October 2020)
As these words are written, the current head of the Federal Food and Drug Administration is on his way to a meeting with the current Occupant.
They are reportedly going to discuss the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, including of course how the Occupant wants vaccine to be distributed.
Vaccines. Once a distant thought, they are now on the tip of everyone's tongue. Suddenly they do not seem so distant. Instead they are nearly upon us, so much so that today the subject of discussion is setting priorities to distribute COVID-19 vaccine.
That's a lot to get your head around in a pretty short time.
One initial thought: This is yet another opportunity to be fair, to be just, to set priorities based on objective need. In the past, priorities have been set many times, if not always, because of money and power rather than objective need. This is another opportunity to recognize objective need and in the process, to act with fairness, justice, and courage.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.