How Sailing Around the World Became a Yearslong Odyssey --- Closed borders put boaters in limbo; quarantine delivery of 'Game of Thrones'

"The pandemic caused serious worries for those traveling the world's oceans on sailboats, and also silly ones.

Australian Guy Chester, alone on the 52-foot GC Sanctuary somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, had just finished season six of "Game of Thrones," and really wanted the final two seasons.

Mr. Chester broadcast a TV-related SOS. In French Polynesia, where the 58-year-old environmental and eco-tourism consultant wasn't allowed to disembark until going through quarantine, another Australian craft sailed close and dropped off a flash drive with the missing episodes. "I binge-watched" them, he said.

When countries closed borders, imposed quarantines and changed yachting protocols, waters got choppy for the thousands of sailors who crisscross oceans in small vessels. Normally they hop from port to port, following routines based on weather, currents and other things, docking to enjoy tropical islands or city offerings.

Instead, many were forced to quarantine aboard, or stay put in a port because their journey's next leg was blocked. Some abandoned their boats in distant marinas and flew home.

While conditions have eased lately, port and border rules continue to change constantly, forcing boats to navigate detours and obstructions.

"We are sailors. We are not meant to be in one place for this long," said Johanna Vesalainen, a Finn who has been waylaid in New Zealand with her husband for more than two years because their next destination, Australia, only recently began allowing foreign sailors to again dock.

The 48-year-old and her husband have been spending their time making repairs on their boat, the Iiris, and sailing along New Zealand's coast. They plan to begin the voyage to Australia -- stopping in Fiji -- this month.

Phil and Debra Perfitt left their boat in Tonga in early 2020 for a trip to New Zealand by plane. Then the pandemic broke out, and borders closed. Two years later the Canadian retirees are still in New Zealand, and their boat, the Coastal Drifter, is still in Tonga, which doesn't yet allow international visitors.

The Perfitts tried to pay a crew to sail the boat into international waters and stage a handover, but Tongan authorities wouldn't agree to the maneuver, according to Ms. Perfitt, a former steward in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

For now, they're making the best of their landlocked status. They house sit, which at their current home means taking care of the owner's three dogs.

Most Thursdays, Ms. Perfitt does a lady's lunch with other cruisers stuck in nearby marinas, while Mr. Perfitt, a retired engineering maintenance officer for the Canadian air force, plays cards with the male counterparts.

In December, the Perfitts hosted a "Cruisers Orphan Christmas Party" -- more than 20 people showed up -- and had another get-together for stuck sailors this Easter.

They've had worrisome reports from the local man keeping an eye on their vessel. First it was infested with cockroaches. Then termites took over.

"We don't know what we're going to be facing once we get back to Tonga," Ms. Perfitt said.

On Ireland's remote West Coast, Daria Blackwell, vice commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club, and her husband, Alex, turned their home into a de facto international command center for long-distance sailors trying to reroute during the first year of pandemic shutdowns. They were often called to help negotiate with border officials who wouldn't let sailors dock because of the pandemic.

"It was more than a full-time job," Ms. Blackwell said. "From the time we got up in the morning, the first thing we did was check our computers to see if anything [was] going on."

Mariska Woertman and her family have been in limbo in the waters of British Columbia.

The Dutch native ditched her career as a marketing executive, took her two daughters out of school and set sail around the world with her partner in 2018, thinking she would be gone a year or two. Instead, when borders closed early in the pandemic the family was stuck off the Pearl Islands near Panama's Pacific coast for more than two months, unable to disembark.

They busied themselves on the 42-foot-long two-masted sailboat baking bread and making seawater drinkable through desalination. A restaurant owner -- for a markup -- would leave boxes of groceries at an abandoned beach for the family to pick up, on unseen quick visits to shore.

They played card games like Uno and rewatched Adam Sandler movies, and entertained themselves with quiz games over the ship's radio, answering pop culture and science questions with other stuck boats nearby. Prizes included a partly used Sudoku booklet or an airplane-size bottle of whiskey.

Eventually the family was able to set sail for French Polynesia when the territory resumed inter-island travel for sailors. In the South Pacific, they climbed mountains, went snorkeling, and ate fruit off trees on islands free of tourists. They home-schooled their daughters, now age 6 and 15.

But then they found the route west blocked because of New Zealand's no-visitor rules. They maneuvered back north and east to the Pacific Northwest. The kids spent last Halloween, dressed as a witch and a fortuneteller, eating their own candy because they couldn't go ashore to trick-or-treat. Eventually they were allowed to make port on Vancouver Island.

Now, the problem is getting across North America. Sailing south to cut through the Panama Canal is a problem, because backlogs at the U.S. consulate make it impossible to get a visa for needed stops along the way at U.S. ports, Ms. Woertman said.

The plan, to begin this week: Portage across Canada by truck, and then set sail for Europe from the Atlantic coast. It will cost about $19,000.

The goal, Ms. Woertman said, is to become one of the few who make it home despite the pandemic. "We will be sailing back into the harbor where we set off from, and family and friends will be on the docks and waving at us," Ms. Woertman said. "That feels like the best thing for us to do."" [1]

1. How Sailing Around the World Became a Yearslong Odyssey --- Closed borders put boaters in limbo; quarantine delivery of 'Game of Thrones'
Putzier, Konrad.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 04 May 2022: A.1.

Kai kuriems ligoniams žiauriai nepasisekė: Biogenas atsisakys vaistų nuo Alzheimerio ligos, kartu atsisveikindamas su generaliniu direktoriumi

  „Biogen Inc.“ teigė, kad planuoja pakeisti savo generalinį direktorių ir veiksmingai atsisakyti didelio dėmesio sulaukusio Alzheimerio ligos gydymo „Aduhelm“, nes biotechnologijų milžinas bando nustatyti naują kursą po to, kai valstybinė JAV pensininkų sveikatos apsaugos sistema „Medicare“ atsisakė už tai mokėti.

 

    Biogenas antradienį pranešė, kad 60 metų Michelis Vounatsosas ir toliau vadovaus įmonei ir liks jos valdyboje, kol bus baigta naujo generalinio direktoriaus paieška. Ji taip pat ėmėsi veiksmų, kurie veiksmingai nutrauks Alzheimerio ligos prekybą.

 

    Biogeno veiksmai rodo, kad pasibaigė bendrovės viltis, kad Aduhelmas taps reikšmingu naujų pajamų šaltiniu, taip pat antrojo vadovo, kuris kovojo už šį vaistą ir siekė gauti Maisto ir vaistų administracijos patvirtinimą, remiantis įvairiais rezultatais, kuriuos atnešė du nebaigti klinikiniai tyrimai.

 

    Kadangi nedaug sveikatos draudikų nori mokėti už vaistą, Alzheimerio liga sergantys pacientai, kurie tikėjosi pradėti vartoti Aduhelm, dabar turės arba sumokėti 28 200 dolerių metinę kainą iš savo kišenės vienoje iš palyginti nedaugelio jį siūlančių klinikų, arba užsiregistruoti klinikiniams tyrimams.

 

    Pacientams, jau vartojantiems Aduhelm, Biogenas teigė, kad ateityje jiems bus suteiktas nemokamas vaistas.

 

    Bendrovė iš esmės panaikins pardavimo infrastruktūrą, kurią sukūrė, kad palaikytų „Aduhelm“ pristatymą, įskaitant darbuotojus, kurie reklamuos vaistą gydytojams ir teiks logistinę pagalbą, padedančią naršyti sudėtingame jo skyrimo pacientams procesą. Šie sumažinimai sudarys didžiąją dalį maždaug 500 mln. dolerių sutaupymo.

 

    Sumažinimas papildo gruodį įgyvendintą 500 mln. dolerių sąnaudų mažinimo programą „Biogen“, o bendras metinis išlaidų mažinimo tikslas iki 1 mlrd. dolerių.

 

    „Tai bus naudinga visiems dalyvaujantiems“, – sakė V. Vounatsos. Jis teigė, kad nors įmonės pagrindinė veikla klostėsi taip gerai, kaip buvo galima tikėtis, o įmonės produktų tiekimas yra stiprus, tai būtų naudinga „kažkam kitam, kuris ateina su valdybos palaikymu ir iš esmės peržiūri prielaidas“.

 

    Tuo tarpu jis pasakė: „Verslas tęsiasi, o aš būsiu jo viršūnėje iki paskutinės sekundės“.

 

    Volstryto analitikai kadaise prognozavo, kad „Aduhelm“ taps populiariu vaistu, per metus parduodant už milijardus dolerių iš maždaug šešių milijonų JAV žmonių, sergančių Alzheimerio liga – progresuojančia neurologine liga, kuri palaipsniui atima iš pacientų prisiminimus ir savarankiškumą.

 

    „Biogen“ teigė, kad „Aduhelm“ pardavimai pirmąjį ketvirtį sudarė 2,8 mln. dolerių, o tai sudaro 0,1% bendrovės produktų pardavimo.

 

    Pardavimai toli nuo pirminių prognozių. Kai kurie analitikai tikėjosi, kad „Aduhelm“ padės transformuoti „Biogen“, paįvairins jo produktų rinkinį, viršijantį tradicinį išsėtinės sklerozės stiprumą, ir kompensuos senesnių vaistų, įskaitant „Tecfidera“ ir „Avonex“, pardavimų mažėjimą.

 

    Tačiau Biogeno Aduhelmo kūrimą sugadino klaidingi žingsniai atliekant du pagrindinius klinikinius tyrimus. Bendrovė sustabdė tyrimus 2019 m., po to, kai statistinė duomenų analizė iki pusės taško prognozavo, kad vaistas greičiausiai nepadės sulėtinti pacientų psichikos nuosmukio.

 

    „Biogen“ netrukus atsitraukė, sakydamas, kad padarė klaidą atlikdama analizę ir kad vienas iš tyrimų buvo sėkmingas, o kitas parodė teigiamus signalus, nepaisant nesėkmės.

 

    JAV reguliatoriaus FDA pareigūnai iš esmės buvo imlūs Biogen nuomonei ir bendradarbiavo su įmone, kad iš naujo analizuotų duomenis. Tačiau daugelis išorės ekspertų buvo skeptiškai nusiteikę ir teigė, kad Biogen turėtų atlikti papildomą tyrimą, kad įrodytų, jog vaistas veikia. Išorinis FDA patarėjų komitetas vienbalsiai balsavo prieš šį vaistą, kai kurie iš jų vėliau atsistatydino protestuodami, kai FDA vis tiek patvirtino vaistą.

 

    Daugelis gydytojų nesutiko dėl vaisto veiksmingumo, naudingumo ir kainos, kuri iš pradžių buvo nustatyta 56 000 dolerių per metus, o vėliau buvo sumažinta per pusę, reaguojant į pacientų grupių ir kitų kritiką.

 

    Kembridžas, Masažas, bendrovės rinkos vertė pasiekė 62,5 milijardo dolerių per kelias dienas po to, kai 2021 m. birželį buvo patvirtintas Aduhelmas, tačiau nuo to laiko sumažėjo daugiau nei 50%, nes dideli draudikai atsisakė mokėti už vaistą dėl susirūpinimo dėl jo veiksmingumo ir šalutinio poveikio.

 

    Praėjusį mėnesį „Medicare“ pagrindinė agentūra teigė, kad ji įprastai nemokės už „Aduhelm“, išskyrus tuos atvejus, kai pacientai dalyvaus klinikiniuose tyrimuose, kuriuose bus tiriamas vaistas.

 

    Trumpai dirbęs „Biogen“ vyriausiuoju komercijos pareigūnu, P. Vounatsos 2017 metais buvo paskirtas generaliniu direktoriumi, o pernai jam buvo sumokėta 17,7 mln. dolerių bendra kompensacija, įskaitant 1,5 mln. dolerių atlyginimą ir 14,1 mln. dolerių akcijų apdovanojimus.

 

    Jo kadencija pasižymėjo tuo, kad buvo prarasta patentinė apsauga išsėtinės sklerozės piliulei Tecfidera – didžiausio Biogen produkto pagal pardavimą; pradėtas naujoviškas gydymas kūdikiams, kuriuos ištiko reta liga, vadinama spinaline raumenų atrofija; ir laukiniai Biogen akcijų kainos svyravimai, apsunkinti Aduhelmo perspektyvų.

 

    „Biogen“ tyrimų vadovas Alfredas Sandrockas, kuris vadovavo „Aduhelm“ plėtrai, lapkritį atsistatydino iš „Biogen“ po daugiau, nei 20 darbo metų.

 

    Biogen akcijos antradienį šiek tiek pakilo.

 

    „Biogen“ pasiekė „pasisukimo tašką, efektyviai užmetęs Aduhelmą ir paskelbęs apie generalinio direktoriaus perėjimą“, – pranešime klientams sakė „RBC Capital“ analitikas Brianas Abrahamsas. „Nors [toliau] strategija tebėra šiek tiek miglota... tikime, kad šie pokyčiai ilgainiui bus gerai priimti ir suteiks bendrovei naujos pradžios.

 

    Bendrovė teigė, kad ir toliau rems programas, pagal kurias „Aduhelm“ yra nemokamas JAV pacientams, jau vartojantiems jį.

 

    „Biogen“ taip pat teigė, kad toliau finansuos vykstančius Aduhelmo tyrimus ir planuojamo naujo klinikinio tyrimo pradžią, kurį FDA įpareigojo, kaip sąlygą, kad vaistas būtų patvirtintas praėjusiais metais.

 

    Naujuoju žingsniu „Biogen“ veiksmingai pašalins pardavimų ir pagalbinį personalą, kurį subūrė „Aduhelm“ – sudėtingam gydymui, kurį reikia skirti ir administruoti.

 

    Antradienį „Biogen“ taip pat paskelbė savo pirmojo ketvirčio rezultatus. Pardavimai sumažėjo 6% iki 2,5 milijardo JAV dolerių, palyginti su 2,7 milijardo JAV dolerių praėjusį ketvirtį." [1]

1. Biogen to Abandon Alzheimer's Drug, Part With CEO
Walker, Joseph.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 04 May 2022: A.1.

Some Patients Are Completely Out Of Luck: Biogen to Abandon Alzheimer's Drug, Part With CEO

"Biogen Inc. said it plans to replace its chief executive and effectively abandon the high-profile Alzheimer's disease treatment Aduhelm as the biotech giant attempts to chart a new course after Medicare's devastating refusal to pay for it.

Biogen said Tuesday that Michel Vounatsos, 60 years old, would continue to lead the company and remain on its board until a search for a new CEO is completed. It also took steps that will effectively end its marketing of the Alzheimer's drug.

Biogen's moves signal the end of the company's hopes that Aduhelm would become a significant source of new revenue, as well as the departure of a second executive who championed the drug and pushed ahead with seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration based on mixed results from two incomplete clinical trials.

With few health insurers willing to pay for the drug, Alzheimer's patients who had hoped to start using Aduhelm will now have to either pay its $28,200 annual price tag out of their own pockets at one of the relatively few clinics offering it, or enroll in a clinical trial.

For patients already taking Aduhelm, Biogen said it would provide the drug to them free going forward.

The company will substantially eliminate the sales infrastructure it built to support Aduhelm's launch, including employees to promote the drug to doctors and provide logistical assistance for navigating the complex process of administering it to patients. The cuts will comprise the bulk of an estimated $500 million in annual savings that the company is targeting.

The downsizing is in addition to the $500 million cost-cutting program Biogen implemented in December and brings the total annual cost-cutting target to $1 billion.

"This will be good for everyone involved," Mr. Vounatsos said on an earnings call. He said that while the company's core business was doing as well as could be expected and that the company's product pipeline is strong, it would be good for "somebody else who comes with the support of the board and basically revisits the assumptions."

Meanwhile, he said, "Business continues, and I will be at the top of it until the last second."

Wall Street analysts once projected Aduhelm to become a blockbuster, achieving billions of dollars in annual sales from some of the estimated six million people in the U.S. living with Alzheimer's, the progressive neurological disease that gradually robs patients of their memories and self-sufficiency.

Biogen said Aduhelm sales were $2.8 million in the first quarter, representing 0.1% of the company's product sales.

The sales were far from initial forecasts. Some analysts had expected Aduhelm would help transform Biogen, diversifying its product suite beyond its traditional strength in multiple sclerosis and compensate for declining sales of older drugs, including Tecfidera and Avonex.

Biogen's development of Aduhelm was marred, however, by missteps in its handling of two key clinical trials. The company halted the studies in 2019, after a statistical analysis of data from the halfway point predicted the drug was unlikely to be successful in slowing patients' mental decline.

Biogen then soon backtracked, saying that it had erred in its analysis and that one of the studies was on track for success and another showed positive signals despite trending toward failure.

FDA officials were largely receptive to Biogen's view and worked with the company to reanalyze the data. But many external experts were skeptical and said that Biogen should complete an additional study to prove the drug worked. An external committee of FDA advisers voted unanimously against the drug, some of whom later resigned in protest when the FDA approved the drug anyway.

Then Biogen's launch of Aduhelm sputtered. Many doctors disagreed about the drug's effectiveness, utility and cost, which was initially set at $56,000 annually before being slashed in half in response to criticism from patient groups and others.

The Cambridge, Mass., company's market value reached $62.5 billion in the days after Aduhelm was approved in June 2021, but has fallen more than 50% since then as large insurers refused to pay for the drug because of concerns about its effectiveness and side effects.

Last month, Medicare's parent agency said it wouldn't routinely pay for Aduhelm except if patients enrolled in clinical trials testing the drug.

After a short stint as Biogen's chief commercial officer, Mr. Vounatsos was appointed CEO in 2017 and was paid $17.7 million in total compensation last year, including $1.5 million in salary and $14.1 million in stock awards.

His tenure was marked by the loss of patent protection for the multiple sclerosis pill Tecfidera, Biogen's biggest product by sales; the launch of an innovative new therapy for infants struck by a rare disease called spinal muscular atrophy; and wild swings in Biogen's stock price based on Aduhelm's prospects.

Biogen's research chief Alfred Sandrock, who shepherded Aduhelm's development, resigned from Biogen in November after more than 20 years with the company.

Biogen shares rose slightly Tuesday.

Biogen has reached "a pivot point, effectively throwing in the towel on Aduhelm and announcing a CEO transition," Brian Abrahams, an RBC Capital analyst, said in a note to clients. "Though [the] go-forward strategy remains somewhat vague . . . we believe these changes will be well received over the long term, and give the company a fresh start."

The company said it would continue to support programs that provide Aduhelm free to U.S. patients already taking it.

Biogen also said it would continue to fund ongoing Aduhelm studies and the start of a planned new clinical trial that was mandated by the FDA as a condition of the drug's approval last year.

Under its new move, Biogen will effectively eliminate the sales and support staff it assembled for Aduhelm, a complex treatment to prescribe and administer.

Biogen also reported its first-quarter results Tuesday. Sales fell 6% to $2.5 billion, down from $2.7 billion in the year-earlier quarter." [1]

1. Biogen to Abandon Alzheimer's Drug, Part With CEO
Walker, Joseph.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 04 May 2022: A.1.

Benas Ulevičius, Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Vytautas Magnus University, is happy with what is happening now:

 "Although 'barking at the door' is not a bad thing in itself. Personally, I am very pleased with NATO's 'barking' and believe that a sovereign state has the right to invite whatever it wants to 'bark', even if Putin is behind the door that Pope does not say that NATO provoked Putin, but that NATO "perhaps" provoked Putin's anger. It is understandable (and very unfortunate) that an inattentive or malicious listener will hear the Pope's vague considerations as he wishes."

Just keep barking, nuclear weapons be damned. If you, my dear, think otherwise, you are an "inattentive or malicious listener". Shame on you.

 

 

 

Benas Ulevičius, VDU Katalikų teologijos fakulteto dekanas, džiaugiasi tuo, kas dabar vyksta:

"Nors „lojimas prie durų“ savaime nėra blogas dalykas. Asmeniškai aš labai džiaugiuosi NATO „lojimu“ ir manau, kad suvereni valstybė turi teisę kviesti ką tik nori „loti“, net jei už sienos – V. Putinas. Vis dėlto popiežius aiškiai patikslino, jog nesako, kad NATO išprovokavo V. Putiną, bet, kad „galbūt“ sužadino V. Putino pyktį. Nežinau, ką tiksliai popiežius turėjo omenyje (ir panašu, kad nieko tikslaus neturėjo), bet tai nėra nei NATO pasmerkimas, nei V. Putino pateisinimas. Suprantama (ir labai gaila), kad neatidus ar piktavalis klausytojas šiuos nekonkrečius popiežiaus pasvarstymus išgirs kaip norės."

 

Toliau lokite, branduoliniai ginklai tebūnie prakeikti. Jei tu, mano brangusis, manai kitaip, esi „nedėmesingas ar piktybiškas klausytojas“. Gėda tau.

Populiariausia TV laida Amerikoje atspindi respublikonų partijos požiūrį: „Tuckeris Carlsonas šį vakarą“

„Išanalizavome kiekvieną Tuckerio Carlsono laidą ir nustatėme, kad daugelyje buvo kalba, kuri pateko į vieną ar daugiau iš šių penkių kategorijų:

 

    Valdančioji klasė: kaltinimai, kad egzistuoja „valdančioji klasė“, kuri siekia kontroliuoti „normalių žmonių“ gyvenimus ir cenzūruoti visus, kurie stoja „valdančiosios klasės“ kelyje.

 

    Pakeitimas per imigraciją: teiginiai, kad yra tyčinės pastangos pakeisti vietinius amerikiečius imigrantais, kad imigracija atima iš vietinių amerikiečių išteklius ir galią, kad „valdančioji klasė“ labiau rūpinasi imigrantais, nei vietiniais amerikiečiais, kad imigrantai yra nešvarūs ir kad imigracija didina nusikalstamumą.

 

    Keičiasi lyčių vaidmenys: argumentai, kad feminizmas ir iššūkiai lyčių normoms sumažino vyriškumą, prisidėjo prie gimstamumo mažėjimo ir privedė prie tradicinių šeimos struktūrų žlugimo.

 

    Baltųjų žmonių diskriminacija: atvejai, kai ponas Carlsonas kalba apie rasizmą prieš baltuosius ir sumenkina rasizmą prieš spalvotus žmones.

 

    Visuomenės naikinimas: perspėjimai apie visuomenės, civilizacijos ir tradicinių vertybių naikinimą. Ponas Carlsonas dažnai kaltina „valdančiosios klasės“ politiką dėl visuomenės nuosmukio ir teigia, kad nusikalstamumo apimti miestai, mirštanti vidurinė klasė ir Amerikos kaimo žlugimas yra to įrodymas.

 

    Tie, kurie rodomi „valdančiosios klasės“ grupėje:

 

    Tai: Stacey Abrams, Jeffas Bezosas, Joe Bidenas, Mike'as Bloombergas, Johnas Boltonas, Cory'is Bookeris, Muriel Bowser, Cori Bushas, ​​Jebas Bushas, ​​Pete'as Buttigiegas, Liz Cheney, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Stephenas Colbertas, Jamesas Comey, Chrisas Cuomo , Billas de Blasio, Lena Dunham, Keithas Ellisonas, Anthony Fauci, Kimas Foxxas, Ericas Garcetti, Billas Gatesas, Kirsten Gillibrand, Alas Gore'as, Kathy Griffin, Kamala Harris, Mazie Hirono, Sheila Jackson Lee, LeBronas Jamesas, Colinas Kaepernickas, Donas Lemonas , Lori Lightfoot, Bill Nye, Barackas Obama, Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Beto O'Rourke, Nancy Pelosi, Ayanna Pressley, Joy Reid, Susan Rice, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Chuck Schumer, Al Sharpton, George'as Sorosas, Ericas Swalwellas, Rashida Tlaib, Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters, Gretchen Whitmer, Oprah Winfrey, Jeffas Zuckeris ir Markas Zuckerbergas."

The most popular TV show in America reflects Republican party’s views: “Tucker Carlson Tonight”

"We analyzed every show and determined that many included language that fell into one or more of the following five categories:

Ruling class: Accusations that there is a “ruling class” intent on controlling the lives of “normal people” and censoring anyone who stands in its way.

Replacement through immigration: Assertions that there is an intentional effort to replace native-born Americans with immigrants, that immigration takes away the resources and power of native-born Americans, that the “ruling class” cares more about immigrants than native-born Americans, that immigrants are dirty and that immigration leads to increases in crime.

Shifting gender roles: Arguments that feminism and challenges to gender norms have diminished masculinity, contributed to falling birthrates and led to the demise of traditional family structures.

Discrimination against white people: Instances in which Mr. Carlson speaks of racism against white people and plays down racism against people of color. 

Destruction of society: Warnings about the destruction of society, civilization and traditional values. Mr. Carlson often blames the policies of the “ruling class” for causing society’s decline, and posits that crime-ridden cities, a dying middle class and the collapse of rural America are evidence of it.

Those shown in the ‘ruling class’ group:

They are: Stacey Abrams, Jeff Bezos, Joe Biden, Mike Bloomberg, John Bolton, Cory Booker, Muriel Bowser, Cori Bush, Jeb Bush, Pete Buttigieg, Liz Cheney, Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Stephen Colbert, James Comey, Chris Cuomo, Bill de Blasio, Lena Dunham, Keith Ellison, Anthony Fauci, Kim Foxx, Eric Garcetti, Bill Gates, Kirsten Gillibrand, Al Gore, Kathy Griffin, Kamala Harris, Mazie Hirono, Sheila Jackson Lee, LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, Don Lemon, Lori Lightfoot, Bill Nye, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Beto O'Rourke, Nancy Pelosi, Ayanna Pressley, Joy Reid, Susan Rice, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, Chuck Schumer, Al Sharpton, George Soros, Eric Swalwell, Rashida Tlaib, Elizabeth Warren, Maxine Waters, Gretchen Whitmer, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Zucker and Mark Zuckerberg."