Renters in America

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Before the covid epidemic about 3.7 million evictions were filed for every average year. Most poor renter families spent at least half their incomes on housing, and about 1 in 4 of these families spent more than 70%, most of whom are Black (most White families own their own houses). Housing is the main driver of inequality.

The covid 19 epidemic, together with the economic crisis, has now put 30-40 million Americans in danger of losing a roof over their heads. In September the CDC issued a moratorium on most evictions until the end of the year. Some cities also banned evictions during the covid period. But the rent is still owing when the moratorium ends, and this ending could be a signal for mass homelessness.

My comment: In a rich country like the United States it is shameful that the shadow of homelessness should hover over so many people. The situation used to be similar in the UK, but the labour Party, after the Second World War, built thousands of “Council houses”, under the control of local authorities. Nothing fancy, in fact mostly ugly, but at least the rents were low and tenants were fairly secure (at least, until Mrs Thatcher came along and started selling them off (typical of the woman’s total absence of empathy – but don’t get me started!). American States and local communities should likewise be building housing for the very poor, away from the clutches of individual landlords. It’s the decent thing to do. Stop the evictions! (Guardian Weekly 6 November 2020)

Following on …..more Epicurean quotations

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Quotes on the thoughts of Epicurus (First part done 11/20/2020)

“If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish, since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another”. (The Essential Epicurus”, by Eugene O’Connor, Great Books in Philosophy series). Done Nov 2020

It is impossible to live pleasurably without living prudently, honorably and justly, and also without living courageously, temperately and magnanimously, without making friends, and without being philanthropic”. Philodemus

The idea that life’s objective should be pleasure was greeted with horror by contemporaries, who believed that man’s highest calling was self-sacrifice. dying for one’s country, self-denial and worship of the Gods, and the Emperor. The early christians regarded pleasure as a form of vice . To them the pursuit of pain triumphed over the pursuit of pleasure.

At the end of the 4th Century A.D Ammianus complained that the Roman Empire had lost its cultural moorings and had descended into a state of triviality, where scholarship was no longer respected and fewer and fewer people read anything at all. (Sound familiar?). ( used Dec 2020)

Epicureanism: Charity, Friendship, Foregiveness, suspicion of ambition and politics

My comment “The physical resurrection of the body and an afterlife are all part of a hoax on the simple-minded. The threat of hell is a means of keeping them in order. Resurrection is contradicted by science, the evidence of our eyes and by common sense. What is the point of listening indefinitely to out-of-tune celestial choirs in any case?

“The best things in life are not things”.

Light relief

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Pharmacist to customer: “Sir, please understand, to buy an anti-depression pill you need a proper prescription. Simply showing your marriage certificate and wife’s picture is not enough.”

Catulent – a name you are probably unfamiliar with

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How will Moderna make the 100 million doses contracted for in the first quarter of 2021 and the 200 million doses it has to provide the federal government (for $3.2 billion) by the end of June?

A big part of the answer is outsourcing production to a contract manufacturer that will make the vaccine on Moderna’s behalf. The biggest of these companies is Catulent in Indiana. Catulent has dozens of factories around the world and makes 70 billion doses of numerous drugs every year.

Catalent is processing 500,000 doses per day, but the factory is hoping to ramp up to a million doses a day to fulfill its contractual obligations and deliver 100 million doses by the end of March. It had been making vaccines for the U.S. population for a long time and has a proven safety and quality record.

However, FDA inspectors visited Catalent’s Bloomington facility in October 2019, and found that it had problems with making sure sterile products weren’t contaminated with bacterial or fungal particles. Inspectors also wrote that the facility had problems storing pharmaceuticals at the right temperature and humidity levels. The company also has a record of not always complying with its own microbial contamination preventative procedures. For example, employees weren’t making sure sterile forceps didn’t touch non-sterile surfaces, and they didn’t follow rules around sanitizing gloved hands in certain situations involving vials and syringes. However, FDA inspections in 2019 and 2020 showed that the company had addressed these complaints.

My take: The complexities of the pharmaceutical industry are mind boggling. I used to work for Glaxo Smith Klein. What struck me was the premium put upon the latest innovations and product launches. Little time was devoted to older products which paid the overheads. Some of these products, about 50(!) years later are still producing handsome profits, I assume. But when I was there any suggestion about re-formulating, re-packaging, re-launching or having a sales blitz on the older products was greeted with a deafening silence. (Grumble, grumble – don’t listen to me!)