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I wrote this article in 2021 for my blog jcherrypresents.com. I have ended that blog and will be writing on Substack instead.
I am reposting many articles from my blog during COVID. I am starting with this one as it is very relevant to where we are today. I will be writing an updated version of this article as well. The corruption in our state is far worse now than it was when I wrote this, it was bad then, it is scary now seeing the power it has had on our state!!
Follow the money and you will find tentacles all around the world controlled be a small group of powerful people. Yes, we are being conspired against. Money, power, and control are the motives.
We have entered into the age of new technologies that have the power to change our lives in ways we’ve never imagined. Those who control the technology have the ability to completely reshape our lives, the very core of our Republic, and the State of Connecticut. When it comes to advancing technologies, who decides what is best for society? The governed, or the industry behind the technology? We elect leaders to represent us, not control us. The people are governed by consent. Would the people consent if they knew all the details?
Businesses can play hide and seek with proprietary privilege and use it to their advantage with a cozy government relationship, according to US law, “(a) Proprietary rights: No trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential, under the meaning of section 552(b)(4) of title 5, which is obtained from a company as a result of activities under this chapter shall be disclosed.” Proprietary rights are not the problem, property rights are invaluable, it is the abuse of those rights in government where it becomes a problem.
When governments and private businesses merge it is not healthy for a free society. The government ends up becoming a tool of the business industry. This gives rise to a state that does not care about its constituents and serves the agenda of the industry instead. The State of Connecticut is a prime example of this. Let’s take a look at the three Ps, public-private partnerships, and how they have gained steam in Connecticut, and account for a very large portion of how projects are funded, and how laws are shaped. Sounds innocent enough, the government needs funding and the private sector happily obliges. However, there is always a hefty price to pay, as government bureaucracy is easily filled with fiscal pork, mismanagement, backroom deals, and chicanery.
“A long-term concession for water services, or a power purchase agreement for a private power station, or a PPA, is a one-off opportunity to win a stream of government-backed revenue lasting 25 or 30 years. This creates huge incentives for corruption, both to ensure that the work is done through a PPP rather than the public sector, and to take the only opportunity to capture the contract.
Bribes or political donations form the currency with which these benefits are obtained, as summarized by the Nobel- prize winning economist Paul Krugman (talking about the USA): “As more and more government functions get privatized, states become pay-to-play paradises, in which both political contributions and contracts for friends and relatives become a quid pro quo for getting government business... a corrupt nexus of privatization and patronage that is undermining government across much of our nation.”
WHY PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS DON’T WORK
The many advantages of
the public alternative
BY DAVID HALL, PSIRU
In 1973 David Rockefeller established the Trilateral Commission. Rockefeller used his power and money to fund and shape the United Nations. In 1974 The United Nations passed Resolution 3201, Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order with public-private, partnerships, introduced as means to finance the order. Twenty years later, David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission’s former member, Bill Clinton, would help Rockefeller achieve a milestone for the new economic world order in the United States. In the 90’s, Bill Clinton’s administration created The National Partnership for Reinventing Government, “Our mission is to create a government that "works better, costs less, and gets results Americans care about." Essentially this ushered in the now common practice of governments using public-private, partnerships. Since the 90s, Connecticut has grown very accustomed to these lucrative partnerships.
Public-private, partnerships, are able to hide from the Freedom Of Information Act, aka FOIA using proprietary rights. The partnerships can be both domestic and foreign. They are unelected bodies that have access to vital information, and the resources of the government. Governments are able to take what would be public information, and make it private with the help of PPPs, governments can also give land, infrastructure, and other valuable assets of importance, like private data, and property through eminent domain, to private companies, while keeping the backroom deals from the public’s scrutiny. So not only do PPPs enable governments to fill budgets, and do projects, they also allow the government to hide from FOIA, and from the people the government is suppose to serve. What happens when government partners with private business into a PPP? The citizens lose their sovereignty to the corporate world, both domestically, and nationally. The people also become indebted to the PPP for 25 to 30 years depending on the length of the contract, or agreement. The government then expects the people to serve it.
According to the late David Rockefeller, ”We [the transnational corporations] are now in the driver's seat of the global economic engine. We are setting government policies instead of watching from the sidelines.” It’s quite obvious that our local state government here in CT does not care what their constituents want. They push bills with agendas, written in the dark behind closed doors regardless of the public’s input. Here’s a trick that public-private, partnership have pulled off with devastating outcomes for the majority everyday Connecticut citizens, forced to use energy from Eversource.
Fun fact: There are five municipal power cooperatives in the state of Connecticut that get their power from their local municipalities, not a corporate for profit giant like Eversource. Citizens in the five Connecticut municipalities have better rates, better service, and far less energy outages with quicker response times to outages than Eversource. Yet, many citizens of the state do not know this even exists, Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative aka CMEEC. Sounds a lot better than Eversource! Why aren’t there more towns using municipal energy? Instead, our legislative body created public-private, partnership, and citizens in State of Connecticut pay some of highest utility fees in the country.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority aka PURA was started in 2011 and eliminated The Department of Public Utility Control. PURA controls cable, internet, water, and gas franchises,
“PURA balances the public’s right to safe, adequate and reliable utility service at reasonable rates with the provider’s right to a reasonable return on its investment. PURA also keeps watch over competitive utility services to promote equity among the competitors while customers reap the price and quality benefits of competition and are protected from unfair business practices.”
The fees and rates are controlled by a PPP aka Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, so what we actually have in Connecticut, is an entity making a lot of profit while offering subpar services at an extremely high cost, and that cost is only going to rise with the “green new deal” agenda for climate change. The climate is changing, however, the multinational corporations like Eversource are not being “green”, well not in an environmental way, they are green in their profits, and that has nothing to do with the climate. Climate sells “green agendas” for public-private, partnerships. Slogans always sound great, but it is the action behind those slogans that count.
Who is Eversource anyhow? According to Wikipedia, “Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to approximately 4 million[7] customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire." The companies under Eversource in Connecticut are, Stanley Works aka Farmington River Power Company, and Yankee Gas Service DBA Eversource. Eversource is one of the largest energy suppliers in the northeast. One could say it is an energy monopoly, but this is a story for another day.
Connecticut is on the top 10 list nationwide of the most expensive states to live in the United States, with a staggering amount of unemployment, extremely high taxes on the middle and working class, and a budget that grows without the fiscal ability to fund it, making more need for taxes. It’s a cycle of PPPs, bad legislation, and an executive branch high on power, with a literal drunken legislative body. Recently Connecticut gained national attention for drunken legislators when House Speaker, Rep. Matthew Ritter, acknowledged the debacle,
“Legislative leadership told the Hartford Courant they believe changes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have been a major factor in the excessive drinking, while Ritter acknowledged the adjustment "probably has contributed to it a little bit.” The article went on to say, “Over the past year, lawmakers have largely been able to avoid interacting with the public at the capitol, while there are new rules allowing them to watch proceedings and vote from the privacy of their own offices, leading to long periods of down time.”
Since COVID, the Capitol Building has been closed to the public, leaving legislators free to engage as they please, passing bills like drunken sailors. The governor, and the legislative body, with the help of public-private, partnerships, have continued passing sweeping legislation, reshaping the state entirely behind closed doors. This is just the tip of the GIANT PPP iceberg, and I haven’t eve gotten into the Lamonts yet!!
This is a long article; it is hard to tell this story without covering the multi layers that make it up and have it clearly make sense. We need to see all of this to understand how we got here. Confusion and layers are part of how this nefarious practice goes under the radar of the public. So far I have discussed PPPs, PURA, the UN Resolution 3201 the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. We are living in a global world, what happens globally affects us here in the State of Connecticut, in ways we would never imagine.
The environment that public-private partnerships creates in Connecticut is ripe for a family like the Lamonts, who have built a fortune in the health and financial tech industries. Connecticut has systemic corruption issues from 30 years of bad policy driven by public-private partnerships from both sides of the political isle. Democrats have power now, and use the corrupted system to their advantage. Republicans would do the same. The system must be addressed, or we will never stop this cycle.
The Lamonts are to public-private partnerships what sugar is to a cake. Annie Huntress Lamont is a leading venture capitalist and has secured billions of dollars in investment funds. She is a managing partner with Oak Investment Partners, according to Wikipedia, “Since inception, Oak had invested in more than 480 companies and had raised more than $8.4 billion in investor commitments across 12 private equity funds. Ann Lamont is a founder and managing partner.” In May 2006, Oak raised its 12th fund, at $2.56 billion reportedly the largest venture capital fund ever raised.” Annie then went on to found Oak HC/FT, a multi billion dollar venture capitalist firm in 2014. Since 2014, Oak HC/FT has made billions of dollars with an extensive portfolio of holdings in healthcare and financial tech. Oak HC/FT, now has four new investment funds, Oak HC/FT Partners IV, L.P. and a 100 million dollar investment from the Pennsylvania Public School Employee’s Retirement System. Notice how Lamont’s firm is working with a local government in a public-private partnership.
The question that needs to be asked is whether Governor Lamont’s executive powers are enriching his family.
Governor Edward Miner Lamont barely won office in 2018. By the skin of his teeth, Ned Lamont was sworn in as governor of Connecticut on January 9, 2019. Lamont quickly became one of the most unpopular governors in Connecticut history, surpassing Daniel Malloy and making the top five worst governors list nationally. That is until COVID hit. Lamont’s daily television briefings helped his popularity rise a bit. A pandemic can make an unpopular governor a hero in a time of crisis, that with the help of a PR firm who made Ned seem better than he actually was/is. According to the Hartford Courant,
“with Cronin — a private advertising firm in Glastonbury that already has been producing COVID-related TV public service announcements for the state since last year — to make polished videos of Lamont giving the two recent speeches at his Capitol office desk.” Lamont used state funds to pay for his televised and tailored speeches. “The prices were negotiated with Cronin by Lamont’s office at a time when the governor’s emergency declaration has suspended normal bidding procedures..”
Another state contract reveals that Connecticut has spent 72 million dollars in total on media, marketing, and public relations, during COVID.
Lamont comes from very wealthy banker lineage, with deep political connections. His great grandfather, Thomas W. Lamont, was a chief executive for JP Morgan. His father, Edward Miner Lamont, Sr., was an economist, and worked on the Marshal Plan, and severed in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, under President Nixon. Lamont appears as a goofy guy, a typical wealthy Connecticut millionaire from Greenwich. In reality, Lamont is a billionaire, with a private jet of his own, according to sources inside his administration. His wife, Annie Huntress Lamont, is a venture capitalist, one of the best in the world. On her about page at Oak Investment Partners it proudly states, “Annie is ranked the number one healthcare investor on the Forbes Midas List.”
It’s not surprising that the Lamont’s financial dealings would attract the attention of the Office of State Ethics. What is surprising is the 16-page opinion the Office of Ethics wrote on the subject. On May 16, 2019, The State of Connecticut Office of State Ethics released, Advisory Opinion, 2019-2, I recommend you read it for yourself. In a nutshell the state recognizes that the Lamonts do indeed have conflicts of interests, but they are going to use a “Blind Trust Code” as a means to avoid any issues, therefore they will not have to recuse themselves from meetings that they may financially benefit from, if they don’t know they are benefiting. There is a recusal acknowledgement that the Lamonts would recuse themselves if any companies are on a list the Lamonts are required to give the state. All public servants must file a Statement of Financial Interest with the state. Lamont’s SOFI is 32 pages long, there is no mention of the many holdings that Annie has, just the companies she is partnered with. With this paltry document the Lamonts are free and clear. I kid you not, and they base this on another decision from a board in NYC, in that decision billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg was granted blind trust. Seems legit?
“The Governor’s and Mrs. Lamont’s proposed plan to use an independent intermediary to manage the bulk of their assets for the purpose of divesting control over and knowledge of such assets and, therefore, minimizing the need for recusals under the conflict of interests provisions of the Code is functionally similar to the use of a blind trust. Under the Code, a blind trust is, General Statutes § 1-79 (1). The former State Ethics Commission recognized the blind trust “as an appropriate device for avoidance of conflicts.” Advisory Opinion No. 96-24. Because divestiture of all control and knowledge of assets is the critical element required for the avoidance of substantial and potential conflicts of interests, a management vehicle that contains this element will be treated in a similar fashion as a blind trust under the Code. See Conflicts of Interest Board Advisory Opinion No. 2007-4 (Dec. 26, 2007) regarding New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s arrangement to divest knowledge and control for his investments.”
The pandemic has given rise to emergency powers that have enabled Lamont to rule over the State of Connecticut via executive fiat like the kings of old. Never before has a governor lead with such control over the lives of its citizens. From business shut downs, masking, school closures, Lamont has ruled behind closed doors surrounded by the protection of quasi government public-private, partnerships, and the privilege of proprietary secrecy. The governor temporarily waived certain rules that usually govern state contracts, such as competitive bidding for supply purchases and contractual services. How many contracts were awarded using emergency powers to skirt the law? How many contracts have there been with business entities tied to the Lamonts?
“Citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Lamont will modify those standards to “expedite” what his administration is calling the “essential services” needed to combat the spread of COVID-19 around the state. As a result, the order temporarily waives contracting rules surrounding the purchase of goods and services like COVID testing, cleaning, security, and other “critical care” supports such as food, housing, and state delivery of such supports.”
So how is that “Blind Trust Code” working? Is anyone asking about this? The corporate controlled media barely raises the ethics issues, why would they? The system feeds favor for good press and softball questions. Some stories do come through the cracks, like the fact that Lamont realized that his wife’s holding, Sema4, was awarded a juicy state contract for COVID testing. Lamont has said he will donate any money made from the deal with Sema4. The state has told Lamont he does not have to donate the money, it’s all good, because we trust him, the Hartford Courant covered the story,
“The torrent of state money poured into virus mitigation has produced at least one convergence of state and family money — much as Gov. Lamont anticipated. But it also shows that the Lamonts expected such an eventuality and, early in the new administration, drafted an ethics plan that they believe insulates them from a variety of personal and state business decisions that could otherwise create an appearance of self-dealing.” There was a wrinkle though. Sema4 is one of the health care startups in which Oak HC/FT has taken a position. Should Sema4 profit from its contract with the state — by short-term revenue growth or long-term reputation enhancement — so would, over the normal course of events, Ann Lamont and her partners — as investors. The article went on further stating, “Sema4 negotiated more aggressively than the other labs. At contract signing, it gilded its reputation with a breathless press release announcing a “formal partnership” with Connecticut to provide “testing to state employees, first responders, residents of long-term care facilities, and patients requiring care at primary care facilities, among others.”
What the partnership cost the state is not public. The prices Sema4 and other labs charge for tests is proprietary. It’s all a game of hide the money, trusts, funds, and investments, the Lamonts are pros! Despite this obvious conflicts of interest for the governor and the striking news of his wife’s holding, Sema4, quickly fades away to daily pandemic numbers. How convenient that the mass testing of an otherwise healthy population of Connecticut would yield so many positive results, and new “cases”. Testing has become a major means of data and profit that then leads to executive orders like curfews, shuttered business, forced masking, and closed schools. Never before in our history as a country have we dealt with a virus like this. The virus takes up so much “news” time everyone forgets about the Lamont’s business dealings and the impact it is having on their lives and livelihoods. Viruses have plagued humanity since humanity walked this earth. Life is a risk and no amount of human intervention, and especially not the government, can keep anyone safe from a virus, period. All the power a government has, is to make recommendations, and that is all it should do.
“The State of Connecticut has retained Sema4 as a COVID-19 testing provider for state employees, first responders, residents of long-term care facilities, and patients requiring care at primary care facilities, among others. Numerous higher education institutions, healthcare providers, and large enterprises are also currently leveraging Sema4’s end-to-end COVID-19 testing solution. All entities working with Sema4 are benefiting from our best-in-class COVID-19 testing with short turnaround times and a seamless digital experience for those who order and receive the tests.”
Oak HC/FT recently closed their forth fund with a whooping 1.4 billion dollars in investments, thanks to the skills of Annie Lamont and her partners. According to Pennsylvania Public School Employee’s Retirement System, public investment memorandum,
“Oak HC/FT believes the healthcare market is a multi-trillion dollar industry that will continue to grow while still remaining ripe for service and technology improvements that will help clinicians, improve care and provide investors with decades of value-add growth. Oak HC/FT believes the investment opportunities exist “in long neglected and ignored areas where there are excessive inefficiencies and waste, and where tech-enabled solutions, specialized outsourced services, and alternative care delivery models can unlock substantial value.”
It is common practice for states to use public-private partnerships to fund programs, though it should not be. What’s shocking is the fact that the First Lady of Connecticut is a venture capitalist making deals with her private company for a public entity, the State of Pennsylvania. Let that sink in.
Josh Geballe is the Chief Operating Officer of Connecticut. He is the Commissioner for the Department of Administrative services, DAS. DAS runs the state. Josh and Annie Lamont have a history. Annie’s company Oak HC/FT, invested 17.5 million dollars into Core Infomatics, Geballe was the CEO, he had this to say about the deal,
“The team at Oak HC/FT has an amazing track record of identifying emerging leaders across numerous segments of the healthcare industry and we are thrilled to welcome their support at this time of our rapid growth,” said Josh Geballe, Core Informatics CEO. “This round of capital will equip us to meet the strong demand for our software solutions and enable more scientific organizations to accelerate their operations and get products to market faster and more efficiently.” Businesswire.
Two years later in 2017, Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired Core Infomatics,
“We are thrilled to join the Thermo Fisher Scientific team to help accelerate the future of the digital lab,” said Josh Geballe, chief executive officer, Core Informatics. “We are excited to become part of the world leader in serving science and look forward to the additional benefits this will bring to our innovative clients and amazing team.” Businesswire
Annie’s company, Oak HC/FT has substantial investment in Core Infomatics, which was bought by Thermo Fisher Scientific. In 2020, Oak HC/FT along with Blackrock, and a dozen other investment companies including CT Innovations, which is a quasi-public-private investment fund, all invested in Sema4, a digital healthcare company utilizing AI,
“Spun out from the Mt. Sinai Health System in June 2017, Sema4 is the second digital healthcare company in a week to reach a billion-dollar valuation from investors (Ro, too, is now worth over $1 billion). In this case, Sema4’s $121 million financing came from BlackRock, Deerfield and Moore Capital, and follows only 12 months after another $120 million institutional financing from investors, including Blackstone, Section 32, Oak HC/FT, Decheng and the Connecticut Innovation Fund.”
Also in 2020, the State of Connecticut signed a contract with Sema4 to provide COVID 19 testing. The state also contracted with other test providers, but Sema4 is the largest, providing tests nationwide, especially for governments, schools, and universities. Sema4 and thermo Scientific teamed up in 2017. According to GenomeWeb,
“Sema4, spun out of New York's Mount Sinai Health System in June, 2017, recently agreed to implement several modules of Core Informatics' Platform for Science, including a laboratory information management system, at its two major lab facilities.
Meanwhile, Core Informatics is being absorbed into Thermo Fisher Scientific, which bought Branford, Connecticut-based Core in March for an unspecified amount. Following the acquisition, Thermo Fisher moved Core into a new digital science division that also includes the LIMS assets of Thermo's informatics and chromatography group.”
Testing for COVID is still being issued under an Emergency Usage Authorization aka EUA, from the FDA, unless the state that the test is processed in has a certified the lab, then the test does not need EUA approval. On the FDA website, Sema4 is not listed as a test provider, rather Thermo Fisher Scientific is listed more than several times, and Mount Sinai Labs listed once. The FDA issued a warning for the Sema4/Thermo Fisher Scientific/ Core Infomatics, COVID-19/flu combo test, because of false positive results. It was discovered in Connecticut that 90 of 144 tests came back positive, but they were later found to be false. The Department of Public Health made a statement in July of 2020 after the false positives were found,
“The false positive test results were discovered by DPH laboratory scientists during an examination of previously positive samples to determine the feasibility of testing “pooled” specimens at the state lab. The errant results are from test specimens processed between June 15 and July 17. The DPH state public health lab relies on this testing platform, but to ensure accuracy moving forward, all positive results will be further analyzed by multiple laboratory scientists, and if indicated, retested using another method.”
Pool testing is a dubious practice that takes a group of tests and pools them together. For example, if one person is positive in the test group, the whole group is positive, and vice versa for negative tests. False positives are more common than false negatives, especially when testing healthy people without symptoms. What is a PCR test anyway? The PCR test is a not a diagnostic tool according to the late Kary Mullis, the inventor of the Polymerase Chain Reaction aka PCR. According to Mullis,
“PCR is really a manufacturing technique. You start with one molecule. You start with a small amount of DNA and on each cycle the amount doubles, which doesn’t sound like that much, but if you, if you double 30 times, you get approximately a billion times more material than you started with.”
What Mullis was saying is that you can find just about anything you want in anyone using PCR, it all depends on the cycle threshold. In March of 2020 at a hearing on the novel coronavirus, Dr. Matthew Carter, the state epidemiologist, when asked about testing people with no symptoms, answered,
“This is true for all laboratory tests done. They should only be done on people who are sick. Testing somebody who is not sick is much more likely to give you a false positive than anything else.”
Even with the common and general practice of only testing sick people for disease, our state and the rest of the world tested millions of people without symptoms. Based on this information, it is not a surprise that so many positives were found in otherwise healthy people. The positive test results spawned lockdowns, school closures, and severe breeches on personal liberty and bodily autonomy while decimating our local economy. All this happened while the wealthiest Americans like the Lamonts, made more money than ever! Another shocking fact is the State of Connecticut, via a proprietary right, is not disclosing what they are paying for all the tests, yes you read that right, the state is not disclosing all the cost of testing to the tax payers paying the bill. Whether it is federal money or state money, it is tax payer money in the end.
The CT Post reported,
“The Office of the State Comptroller has redacted at least six public contracts at the request of vendors who say their prices for a budgeted $50 million in taxpayer-funded tests shouldn’t be publicly disclosed. While the state says it’s paying an average of $117 for each test and its associated lab work, it has repeatedly denied requests for the exact pricing details of its contracts with at least six companies.”
At the time of this writing I do not have the information on the 6 companies withholding testing costs, but I have a strong inclination that it is Sema4/Thermo Fisher Scientific/ Core Infomatics, this entity is one giant biotech conglomerate, and it is deeply tied to Annie Lamont, and Josh Geballe. Josh Geballe feels it is his mission to bring Connecticut into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He is a tech genius who helped usher in digital patents. Geballe has merged technology with medical data, which has created the foundation, and the means, for mass surveillance, the likes of which we have never seen.
According to Geballe’s biography, “He was most recently Vice President and General Manager of Digital Science at Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), a global scientific technology company. His business unit provided a cloud-based software platform that helped scientists generate insights that improve human health and our quality of life, and helped lead the company’s overall digital strategy.”
Corporate America is in a biotech race for data. Data is gold in the age of technology. DNA data is the biggest prize. DNA holds the keys to biometric surveillance and so much more. China is ahead in the race for DNA data, as a dictatorship, it is easy for China to be in the lead. China has the world’s largest gene bank. The Chinese have harvested DNA from pregnant women with a diagnostic test. They did not tell the women using the prenatal diagnostic tests made by Beijing Genomics Institute, now known as BGI Group, the women did not know their data would be stored forever and that the test was collecting everything it could from the mother and the baby. The women were told that their data would be kept for a period of time, and they were only looking at prenatal abnormalities, it would remain confidential, and that they could request to destroy it at anytime. Not only did BGI get DNA from women in China, they did so in other parts of the world too. According to Reuters,
“Shenzhen-based BGI shot to global prominence last year after selling or donating millions of COVID-19 test kits and gene-sequencing labs outside China. U.S. security agencies warned this was part of an effort to collect large amounts of foreign genetic material. BGI said this year it has built 80 COVID-19 labs in 30 countries, which it plans to repurpose for reproductive health screening. It says its COVID-19 tests do not collect patient DNA. But its prenatal tests do.”
Reuters also reported, “China’s collection and analysis of the DNA of its Uyghur Muslim population – including systematic collections of samples from residents in Xinjiang – has drawn sharp criticism. The United States sanctioned two BGI subsidiaries last year for what it called China’s “abusive DNA collection and analysis schemes to repress its citizens.” BGI denied it was involved in any human rights abuses in Xinjiang. China’s foreign ministry said health check-ups of Uyghurs there did not collect biological information such as DNA.”
There was a buzz on social media about COVID tests being able to harvest DNA data last year, now it appears that is not far from the truth. Are we to believe that the Chinese, who used a prenatal diagnostic test to harvest DNA for their gene bank, are not doing the same with COVID tests? From the study of the human genome, to the usage of genomics to surveil a population, these are uncharted dark waters. Genomics has become a race to harvest as much data as possible. China is in the lead, but the United States would love to surpass China. There is one little issue, and that is western law affords its citizens inalienable rights to privacy and bodily autonomy, where the Chinese Communist Party does not. I bet you are wondering what all this has to do with Annie Lamont and Josh Geballe?
Sema4 is also Sema4 Genomics and as I stated earlier, Thermo Fisher Scientific/Sema4/Core Infomatics are part of the same beast. Both Geballe and Lamont, are heavily tied to these companies.The Chinese were caught using American technology to surveil the Uyghurs. Guess who provided the Chinese the surveillance technology? Thermo Fisher Scientific. Human Rights Watch Reports:
“Human Rights Watch uncovered that a US-based company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, has supplied the Xinjiang police with some of these DNA sequencers. Human Rights Watch wrote to the company in June and August 2017, informing them that Chinese authorities are collecting DNA from individuals not suspected of crimes in Xinjiang as well as across China, and asking them to comment on a range of issues including their human rights policies and discussions they may have had with Chinese authorities about the intended use of DNA sequencing equipment. In Thermo Fisher Scientific’s response to the first letter, the company stated that it does not “share information about our customers or their purchases” and that “given the global nature of our operations, it is not possible for us to monitor the use or application of all products we manufactured.” The firm stated that they “expect all of our customers to act in accordance with appropriate regulations and industry-standard best practices.” Thermo Fisher Scientific did not reply to Human Rights Watch’s second, follow-up letter.
Coercing people to give blood samples, or taking blood samples without informed consent or justification can violate an individual’s privacy, dignity, and right to bodily integrity; it can also in some circumstances constitute degrading treatment. Compelled DNA sampling of an entire region or population for purposes of security maintenance is a serious human rights violation in that it cannot be justified as necessary or proportionate.
In Northwestern China, home to 10 million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. The Chinese government has imposed pervasive restrictions on their fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion. Since the appointment of Party Secretary Chen Quanguo in August 2016, the Xinjiang regional government has enacted further repressive policies, including restricting foreign travel and forcing those studying abroad to return, detaining thousands in political education facilities, and hiring thousands more as security personnel to monitor the population. Authorities have also ramped up surveillance measures, including by integrating other biometric technology like facial recognition with surveillance systems. Across China, Human Rights Watch has also documented the authorities’ efforts in implementing new technological systems for mass surveillance, including the use of big data, cloud computing, and biometrics."
In 2019, after being caught selling the Chinese the tools to monitor its’ citizens, Thermo Fisher Scientific said they would no longer sell to the Chinese. However, they have not stopped selling the technology to China, and they admit they still do, but they use the excuse that they cannot control it. This is a bold face lie. Thermo has built head quarters in China, and they have a close working relationship with the Chinese government, they are fully aware of what China is doing. Thermo Fisher Scientific is looking for ways to use this technology here in the United States. Recently Thermo Fisher made a deal with the FBI to give their tools to law enforcement to catch criminals.
“Law enforcement booking stations will use the new Thermo Fisher Scientific database to automatically upload and process DNA samples from qualifying suspects within 90 minutes, according to a press release. Rapid DNA analysis at the point of booking is a powerful investigative tool that can quickly and safely link arrested individuals with other serious crimes, thereby providing significant benefits to public safety," Joanie Brocato, former DNA manager at the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory and current department head of the Clinical Laboratory Science program at Louisiana State University Health Science Center, said in a Thursday statement.”
This is a very slippery slope. The Chinese use this slope too, they say they need to surveil the Uyghurs, because they are religious extremists, domestic terrorists, a danger, and for the greater good, for safety, they must surveil the population and have re education camps for those that may become extremists. Families of Uyghurs are torn apart, the children taken and made to go to Chinese school, and the adults are forced into re-education camps. This is a modern day genocide.
It’s hard to believe that the State of Connecticut’s very own, Chief Operating Officer, Josh Geballe, the brains behind the merger of tech and bio surveillance, and First Lady, Annie Huntress Lamont, the most powerful female venture capitalist on the planet, are tied to the biometric surveillance of the over a million Uyghurs. Here is something of a shocking reality. As if this all isn’t shocking enough,
“Marketing and lobbying by technology suppliers is often behind pushes for the broadest possible use of DNA profiling. In 2016, for instance, a representative of a US lobbying firm working for Thermo Fisher Scientific described in a conference presentation the development of universal DNA databases as “inevitable”. He noted that the expansion of these to “Western countries or other countries with democratic forms of government” faced “significant hurdles”, such as the “open and public parliamentary process” and the “culture of being influenced by opposition and protests” (see go.nature.com/337pjce)."
Are we being prepped to be continuously surveilled and monitored by our government? The post COVID government is trying set the foundation for this. Mass testing, mandated vaccines, contact tracing, shut downs, social distancing, and talk of vaccine passports. All for our safety, just like China, it is for the “safety” of all.
Why has Connecticut spent 72 million dollars on media and public relations for COVID? Did you know that Lamont hid a contract that Josh Geballe signed with the Boston Consulting Group on May 9, 2020? The contract gave BCG access to the data of every citizen in Connecticut. Lamont hired BCG to help with the re-opening of Connecticut for a cool two million dollars. There was no public bidding, the public did not even get to see the contract. The contract was hidden from the public. I was sent a copy of the contract. Here are some important points on the collection of information by BCG from the state,
Dependencies
BCG’s obligations are contingent on the following dependencies:
Appendix A: Contract Terms
“(a) Contractor and Contractor Parties, at their own expense, have a duty to and shall protect from a Confidential Information Breach any and all Confidential Information which they come to possess or control, wherever and however stored or maintained, in a commercially reasonable manner in accordance with the highest current industry standards and best practices, as they may be amended from time to time. (b) Each Contractor or Contractor Party shall develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive written information security program for the protection of Confidential Information. The safeguards contained in such program shall be consistent with and comply with the safeguards for protection of Confidential Information, and information of a similar character, as set forth in all applicable federal and state law and written policy of the Department or State concerning the confidentiality of Confidential Information.” See references for full contract.
In Lamont’s new Connecticut, the governor gets to rule by executive fiat far from the public’s view. Venture capital earnings in biotech are tax exempt, and the data of Connecticut citizens is for sale. Paul Pescatello, executive director of Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council, boasted to the Hartford Courant,
“In addition to representing the biotech and biopharma industries at the state level, Pescatello serves as president and CEO of the New England Biotech Association, a mutually beneficial arrangement for all involved. “I think just being linked in to all that is going on in New England certainly helps Connecticut a lot,” he said. “It’s quite an ecosystem, which is very valuable to our Connecticut companies.” Asked about the achievements he’s happiest about over the past year, he pointed to legislation that exempts venture capital income from state income tax, calling it “a huge competitive advantage over what other states are doing.”
Tax exemption for biotech and venture capital investments, you mean like Thermo Fisher Scientific/Core Infomatics/Sema4 Genomics/Sema4? So how does the “Blind Trust” work here?
Profits are the bottom line for the Lamont’s pool of business associates, and entities, that help to enrich themselves via a cache of public-private partnerships. I am not done here. This is just the beginning. So far we have only touched the tip of the Lamont ice berg, Thermo Fisher Scientific/Core Infomatics/Sema4 Genomics/Sema4.
What about Oak HC/FT holding, UniteUs, and the eviction moratorium? Is Connecticut destroying small businesses that rent properties to the public, by forcing them to use the governor’s service providers to collect unpaid rent during COVID?
References:
Proprietary Rights
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/5308
WHY PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS DON’T WORK
https://www.world-psi.org/sites/default/files/rapport_eng_56pages_a4_lr.pdf
National Partnership for Reinventing Government
(formerly the National Performance Review)
https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/whoweare/history2.html
Business Managed Democracy
https://www.herinst.org/BusinessManagedDemocracy/government/international/trilateral.html
PURA
https://portal.ct.gov/PURA/About/About-PURA
Jon Lender: An ad agency was hired to make Gov. Ned Lamont’s speeches into videos for broadcast in the pandemic; is a Season 2 planned?
Oak Investment Partners
https://www.oakvc.com/team/ann-lamont/
The State of Connecticut Office of State Ethics released, Advisory Opinion, 2019-2
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/Ethics/Advisory_Opinions/2019/AdvisoryOpinionNo20192pdf.pdf
Sema4 Testing
https://sema4.com/covid19-solutions
Family investments, coronavirus pandemic put Gov. Ned Lamont on ethical tightrope
Oak HC/FT 1.4 billion Dollar Fund
https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/24/oak-hc-ft-1-4-billion/
Josh Geballe
https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/About-the-Department-of-Administrative-Services/Commissioner
Thermo Fisher
Sema4
DPH
Karry Mullis PCR Test
FBI Thermo Fisher Scientific
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/fbi-approves-new-dna-database-system
Nature
stop selling its DNA-profiling technology in Xinjiang
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03687-x
FOIA Reopen CT
https://www.wshu.org/post/reopen-connecticut-advisory-panel-not-subject-foia#stream/0
BIOTECHNOLOGY INCENTIVES
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2000/rpt/2000-R-0055.htm
Bioscience venture tax emption
