Russian Medical Development: News

US plans major smear campaign against Russian anti-Covid products, Kremlin source says

This is an attempt to diminish the contribution of Russian science to the global fight against COVID-19, the source said.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. The US and its allies plan a large-scale smear campaign aimed at discrediting Russian anti-Covid products amid rising demand for the Sputnik V vaccine, a high-level Kremlin source told TASS Friday.

"According to our intelligence agencies, the US and its allies intend to arrange a large-scale disinformation campaign, aimed at fueling a biased attitude against our scientific innovations in fighting the spread of coronavirus infections as demand grows for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine across the world, including in European countries," the source said.

US actions aimed to discredit Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine are an attempt to diminish the contribution of Russian science to the global fight against COVID-19, the source said.

"Such actions of the US and its allies demonstrate their attempts to diminish the contribution of Russian science to the global fight against the spread of COVID-19, to undermine the trust of the international community in our research developments and hinder their certification by the World Health Organization, as well as to lower foreign demand for the Sputnik V vaccine, which is ranked second on the number of countries that approved it," the source said.

The campaign will target those European nations that have registered Russia’s Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine, according to the source.

"European countries that authorized the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use have been chosen as a target of the anti-Russian information campaign. They are Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Montenegro, San Marino, and North Macedonia," the source said, citing the data from Russia’s security and intelligence service indicating that the United States and its allies plan to unleash an information campaign to form biased attitudes to Russian anti-COVID developments.

According to the source, the West is gearing up for a scenario for a smear campaign attack on Sputnik V by faking mass deaths after its alleged use.

"A scenario of information attack on Sputnik V is being prepared through controlled non-governmental organizations (the US Agency for International Development, Soros’ foundation, Thomson Reuters Foundation) and media structures (BBC, Reuters, Internews). [The attack] aims to substantiate the promoted theses about "the vaccine’s inefficiency and danger’ by faking mass deaths allegedly caused by the use of the medicine," he said.

The US is aggressively promoting the Pfizer vaccine, imposing exploitative terms on buyer countries through “bullying” at the highest level, the source told TASS.

"The US is engaged in an unprecedentedly aggressive policy of promoting its Pfizer vaccine, seeking not only to waive all monetary compensation in case of side effects, but all the monetary responsibility for the producer’s negligence, including manufacturing defects and violations of storage conditions,” the source revealed.

According to the source, the US imposes exploitative terms on vaccine buyer countries. In particular, this was the case with Argentina. Initially, this Latin American country agreed to Washington’s terms, but later refused to sign the contract, after receiving new demands to guarantee expenses coverage, slamming the US tactic as being "held to ransom” and “high-level bullying,” the source said.

"According to the UK’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Argentina initially agreed to these exploitative terms, but the US later rolled out new demands to provide sovereign guarantees of coverage of expenses, using state assets, including federal bank reserves, diplomatic mission buildings and even military bases as collateral,” the source said.

https://tass.com/politics/1265387

So the Pfizer crapcine is an extortion racket in addition to being essentially random poison.

Russia may supply Ebola vaccine to Guinea - Consumer Rights watchdog

https://tass.com/society/1265663

Another European authority interested in Russian anti-covid drugs:

France's Nice mayor requests permission to purchase Sputnik V vaccine.

https://br.sputniknews.com/europa/2021031417127987-prefeito-de-nice-franca-pede-permissao-para-comprar-vacina-sputnik-v/

Medicine against resistance to antibiotics in development by Russia’s Gamaleya Center

The medicine is currently undergoing the third stage of clinical trials.

https://tass.com/science/1265757

The US exerted pressure on Brazil in order not to buy 'malign' Sputnik V Russian vaccine.
By John McEvoy

As Brazil’s death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic nears 275,000, documents reveal that Washington pressured the Brazilian government not to buy Russia’s “malign” Sputnik V vaccine – a decision which may have costed many thousands of lives.

Malign influences

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently published its Annual Report for 2020.

“2020 was one of the most challenging years in the history of our country and in the history of the Department of Health and Human Services”, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar introduces the report.

“There is an end to the pandemic in sight”, he continues, “with the delivery of safe and effective vaccines through Operation Warp Speed”.

Tucked away on page 48, the report shockingly reveals how the US pressured Brazil to reject Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

Under the subheading “Combatting malign influences in the Americas”, the report announces:

OGA used diplomatic relations in the Americas region to mitigate efforts by states, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, who are working to increase their influence in the region to the detriment of US safety and security. OGA coordinated with other U.S. government agencies to strengthen diplomatic ties and offer technical and humanitarian assistance to dissuade countries in the region from accepting aid from these ill intentioned states. Examples include using OGA’s Health Attaché office to persuade Brazil to reject the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, and offering CDC technical assistance in lieu of Panama accepting an offer of Cuban doctors.

It is also striking that the US dissuaded Panama from accepting Cuban doctors, who have been on the global front line against the pandemic, working in over 40 countries.

As well as Brazil, the US has despatched Health Attachés to China, India, Mexico and South Africa, likely charged with carrying out similar activities.

The documents demonstrate how Washington views global health in strict power terms, willing to sacrifice countless lives in order to deny Official Enemies a soft power victory.

Catastrophic response

Brazil has suffered the world’s second-worst number of Covid-19 death rates, with Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 policy being described as “homicidally negligent”.

Throughout 2020, the Brazilian government consistently refused to pursue any vaccine but AstraZeneca’s, baffling medical experts.

A group of Brazilian mayors urged Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to resign, writing: “His leadership did not believe in vaccination as a way out of the crisis and did not carry out the necessary planning for the acquisition of vaccines”.

With deaths soaring, Bolsonaro eventually and belatedly opened discussions for the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines.

Secret documents published by Brasil Wire also revealed that the UK had lobbied Brazil on behalf of AstraZeneca as well as British mining firms, showing that the US is not the only country leveraging power on behalf of pharmaceutical multinationals in Latin America.

This is only the latest scandalous episode in Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, and malign US interference in the region.

https://www.brasilwire.com/exclusive-washington-pressured-brazil-not-to-buy-malign-russian-vaccine/

Kiko wrote:The US exerted pressure on Brazil in order not to buy 'malign' Sputnik V Russian vaccine.
By John McEvoy

As Brazil’s death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic nears 275,000, documents reveal that Washington pressured the Brazilian government not to buy Russia’s “malign” Sputnik V vaccine – a decision which may have costed many thousands of lives.

Malign influences

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently published its Annual Report for 2020.

“2020 was one of the most challenging years in the history of our country and in the history of the Department of Health and Human Services”, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar introduces the report.

“There is an end to the pandemic in sight”, he continues, “with the delivery of safe and effective vaccines through Operation Warp Speed”.

Tucked away on page 48, the report shockingly reveals how the US pressured Brazil to reject Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

Under the subheading “Combatting malign influences in the Americas”, the report announces:

OGA used diplomatic relations in the Americas region to mitigate efforts by states, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, who are working to increase their influence in the region to the detriment of US safety and security. OGA coordinated with other U.S. government agencies to strengthen diplomatic ties and offer technical and humanitarian assistance to dissuade countries in the region from accepting aid from these ill intentioned states. Examples include using OGA’s Health Attaché office to persuade Brazil to reject the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, and offering CDC technical assistance in lieu of Panama accepting an offer of Cuban doctors.

It is also striking that the US dissuaded Panama from accepting Cuban doctors, who have been on the global front line against the pandemic, working in over 40 countries.

As well as Brazil, the US has despatched Health Attachés to China, India, Mexico and South Africa, likely charged with carrying out similar activities.

The documents demonstrate how Washington views global health in strict power terms, willing to sacrifice countless lives in order to deny Official Enemies a soft power victory.

Catastrophic response

Brazil has suffered the world’s second-worst number of Covid-19 death rates, with Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 policy being described as “homicidally negligent”.

Throughout 2020, the Brazilian government consistently refused to pursue any vaccine but AstraZeneca’s, baffling medical experts.

A group of Brazilian mayors urged Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to resign, writing: “His leadership did not believe in vaccination as a way out of the crisis and did not carry out the necessary planning for the acquisition of vaccines”.

With deaths soaring, Bolsonaro eventually and belatedly opened discussions for the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines.

Secret documents published by Brasil Wire also revealed that the UK had lobbied Brazil on behalf of AstraZeneca as well as British mining firms, showing that the US is not the only country leveraging power on behalf of pharmaceutical multinationals in Latin America.

This is only the latest scandalous episode in Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, and malign US interference in the region.

https://www.brasilwire.com/exclusive-washington-pressured-brazil-not-to-buy-malign-russian-vaccine/

If Lula comes back in to power this will surely be reversed.

Since the United States have been relentless in their efforts to prop up regimes both in Europe and Asia that are anti Russian/ anti Chienese, I believe that it is only fair for both countries to support anti American political forces in America's backyard.

magnumcromagnon wrote:

Kiko wrote:The US exerted pressure on Brazil in order not to buy 'malign' Sputnik V Russian vaccine.
By John McEvoy

As Brazil’s death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic nears 275,000, documents reveal that Washington pressured the Brazilian government not to buy Russia’s “malign” Sputnik V vaccine – a decision which may have costed many thousands of lives.

Malign influences

The US Department of Health and Human Services recently published its Annual Report for 2020.

“2020 was one of the most challenging years in the history of our country and in the history of the Department of Health and Human Services”, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar introduces the report.

“There is an end to the pandemic in sight”, he continues, “with the delivery of safe and effective vaccines through Operation Warp Speed”.

Tucked away on page 48, the report shockingly reveals how the US pressured Brazil to reject Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

Under the subheading “Combatting malign influences in the Americas”, the report announces:

OGA used diplomatic relations in the Americas region to mitigate efforts by states, including Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia, who are working to increase their influence in the region to the detriment of US safety and security. OGA coordinated with other U.S. government agencies to strengthen diplomatic ties and offer technical and humanitarian assistance to dissuade countries in the region from accepting aid from these ill intentioned states. Examples include using OGA’s Health Attaché office to persuade Brazil to reject the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, and offering CDC technical assistance in lieu of Panama accepting an offer of Cuban doctors.

It is also striking that the US dissuaded Panama from accepting Cuban doctors, who have been on the global front line against the pandemic, working in over 40 countries.

As well as Brazil, the US has despatched Health Attachés to China, India, Mexico and South Africa, likely charged with carrying out similar activities.

The documents demonstrate how Washington views global health in strict power terms, willing to sacrifice countless lives in order to deny Official Enemies a soft power victory.

Catastrophic response

Brazil has suffered the world’s second-worst number of Covid-19 death rates, with Bolsonaro’s Covid-19 policy being described as “homicidally negligent”.

Throughout 2020, the Brazilian government consistently refused to pursue any vaccine but AstraZeneca’s, baffling medical experts.

A group of Brazilian mayors urged Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello to resign, writing: “His leadership did not believe in vaccination as a way out of the crisis and did not carry out the necessary planning for the acquisition of vaccines”.

With deaths soaring, Bolsonaro eventually and belatedly opened discussions for the delivery of Sputnik V vaccines.

Secret documents published by Brasil Wire also revealed that the UK had lobbied Brazil on behalf of AstraZeneca as well as British mining firms, showing that the US is not the only country leveraging power on behalf of pharmaceutical multinationals in Latin America.

This is only the latest scandalous episode in Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic, and malign US interference in the region.

https://www.brasilwire.com/exclusive-washington-pressured-brazil-not-to-buy-malign-russian-vaccine/

If Lula comes back in to power this will surely be reversed.

The way that Brazil is going, I think I Lula has a good chance of coming back I power.

Lula will have to deal with a rotten elite that licks Washington's nut sack and cleans out his anus with its tongue.

He will also have to deal with outright sabotage organized by the yanquis, which is what brought him down in the first place.

Washington is invested in keeping Latin Americans on its plantation.

PapaDragon wrote:

Well for one thing Russia is not in lockdown,they haven't lost control of pandemic and there are no shortages of vaccine there

Everyone who wants to get vaccine can do it without appointment or wait period and also gets ice cream as a bonus

And they have more than enough left for export

EU on the other hand is on complete opposite situation (even ice cream is not pro bono)

Free ice cream is very cool and all that but what matters is who will manage to vaccinate 100% of it's country population.
As soon as this happens economy could run at full speed. Check Israel, these guys did not invented any vaccine, did not export anything, but quietly managed to get all their people vaccinated. Corona virus is no issue to them anymore. Same will happen with UK, USA, parts of EU, damn, even Serbia is doing great job.

And then we have Russia with its free ice cream and  5% of the population vaccinated  so far. What a joke.
Actually no, it's not funny. To be the first country that registers a vaccine to a new pandemic virus desease and then become one of the slowest in actually taking advantage of your own breakthrough is a national catastrophe and some heads should roll. Just my 2 cents.

Russian economy IS back in full speed, they rolled over the hump

You can't put a gun to people's heads and order them to vaccinate (actually you could and that would be my preferred solution but it's simply not needed anymore) especially since you have the whole thing under control

Like I said, right now their cities are open, hospitals are not overloaded and industry is up and running

With nasal vaccines in the pipeline things will improve even further

Also, where did you get that 5% number? I looked it up and all stats on English web are at least month old with dodgy sources

PapaDragon wrote:
Russian economy IS back in full speed, they rolled over the hump

You can't put a gun to people's heads and order them to vaccinate (actually you could and that would be my preferred solution but it's simply not needed anymore) especially since you have the whole thing under control

Like I said, right now their cities are open, hospitals are not overloaded and industry is up and running

With nasal vaccines in the pipeline things will improve even further

Also, where did you get that 5% number? I looked it up and all stats on English web are at least month old with dodgy sources

Russian economy can be running right now, but it could not be tomorrow, with new mutations of the virus on the horizon. British strain is arround 50 to 70% more contagious, meaning it can spread much faster.
And lets also have in mind the demographic issue Russia has been facing since Soviet Union fall. COVID19 is a huge threat, of course not only directly, but the whole range of side effects it causes have an important impact on population numbers. For example in many countries deaths of elder (and not so elder) people who died in their homes from otherwise curable diseases out of fear of not getting infected by COVID in the hospital is alarming.

Check EU, where third wave hits hard as we speak- many countries were pretty much open and running as normal then in a week time they were closed again because new cases sky rocketed and could not be controlled anymore.

I did a re-check on numbers on several metrics sites and actually Russia seems to have less than 4% of its population with one dose and under 2% fully vaccinated with the 2 shots.

Regarding the nasal vaccines- I think Russia´s problem is not the way vaccine is administrated but lack of thrust, organisation issues and bad adminsitration. It is pretty funny that here in the EU many people are dissing western vaccines and prefer to use the simplier but proven Russian one, while in Russia it is the other way arround.

China & Russia Vaccines Defeat Cold War Virus, by Finian Cunningham for Sputnik news.
16.03.2021

A friend in need is a friend indeed, and several countries which may have previously sniffed at vaccines produced by China and Russia are finding truth in the old adage.

China is ramping up supplies of its CoronaVac to Brazil and other Latin American countries where Covid-19 infections are threatening to overwhelm public health services. Brazil has become a new global hotspot for deadly variants of the coronavirus. With nearly 280,000 deaths, the most populous country in Latin America has the second-highest global toll after the United States (533,000).

Meanwhile, several European nations are reportedly in discussions to produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine after a breakthrough deal last week with Italy – the first member the European Union – to start local production of the Russian jab. Germany, France and Spain are among other EU states considering similar local manufacturing arrangements for Sputnik V.

The European need is made all the more acute because of the slow rollout of approved vaccines and recently the pausing of the AstraZeneca jab by several nations owing to concerns about potentially fatal side-effects from blood-clotting.

Here’s the thing. China’s and Russia’s vaccines have been shown to be effective against Covid-19 symptoms and safe. The jabs are easily mass produced at an affordable cost compared with Western counterparts, and both China and Russia have said they are willing to provide license agreements for local production which would expedite supply logistics.

China has 17 other vaccines reportedly undergoing trial. So far, there appears to be no ill-effects from administering to humans.

The global results speak for themselves. Scores of countries have taken orders for the Chinese and Russian shots. Beijing has donated vaccines to over 50 low-income nations.

How attitudes have changed. Back in December, a Bloomberg headline stated: “China’s struggling to get the world to trust its Covid vaccines”.

Among those expressing disdain previously was the right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro who said humans undergoing trials for the Chinese vaccine were “guinea pigs” inferring unsafe risks.

Given the crisis that Brazil finds itself in with soaring Covid-19 infections, which critics put down to negligent federal government health policies, Bolsonaro and his cabinet have only been too glad to avail of millions of doses of vaccine from China. So much so that the Brazilian president has scrubbed the earlier antagonistic rhetoric towards Chinese telecoms giant Huawei which he had adopted in deference to Washington’s hostile China policy. Indeed, Huawei is now being considered by the Brazilian government for 5G modernization of its telecoms network. No doubt, a sign of gratitude that China has come to the Covid rescue.

Similarly, Europe was rather sniffy in its attitude towards Russia’s Sputnik V. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council chief Charles Michel have insinuated that China and Russia are motivated by “propaganda objectives” above medical and public health interests.

Sputnik V was the first government-registered vaccine anywhere in the world as of last August. Yet it is still awaiting formal approval by the European Medicines Agency, even though it has been proven in large-scale trials to be highly effective and safe to administer among all age groups.

In any case, regardless of official approval in Brussels, several European countries have gone ahead with bilateral agreements to order Russian and Chinese vaccines. They include Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic as well as non-EU state Serbia and other Balkan nations.

Due to its rapid and rigorous early management of the pandemic, through quarantine and contact tracing, China has succeeded in eradicating the disease. Life among its 1.4 billion population has returned to pre-pandemic normalcy. China’s death toll stands at around 4,600 – less than that of the United States or Europe by a factor of more than 100-fold.

Beijing says it wants to rebuild the global economy from renewed emphasis on trade, investment and cooperative partnerships as part of its Belt and Road Initiative of new silk routes. An essential part of realizing that vision requires defeating the Covid-19 pandemic collectively in every region of the world.

China and Russia’s outlook contrasts with the “vaccine nationalism” of the United States and Europe which has seen these regions hoard millions of surplus or unused doses. Both China and Russia know that the only way for the planet to recover from this once-in-a-century pandemic is for all nations to unite in solidarity and to share scientific achievements. Public health before private profit is the watchword.

In this situation, a Cold War mentality of viewing others as enemies is an odious obstacle to progress. It’s a vile, futile plaything of ideological elites. It is becoming clear that nations, media and politicians who are infected with such a political virus are an anachronism. Common human need is driving international relations of solidarity. Cynics in the West may begrudge China and Russia reaping the success of “vaccine diplomacy”. Others will view it more generously as those two nations showing responsible and ethical leadership to pull humanity out of a global crisis for the greater good.

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202103161082359549-china--russia-vaccines-defeat-cold-war-virus/

Just because you have 100% of your population vaccinated against a disease does not mean your economy can return to 100%... that is just silly.

How is your tourism sector going to get to 100%?

Much production in most places around the world relies on raw material and if the country that supplies the raw material is in lock down what are you going to do to replace those resources.

Obviously for Russia this would be less of a problem for other countries, but the real fundamental problem is that you will never get 100% of your population vaccinated in the first place.

In Israel the population is not 100% vaccinated... last time I looked more than 50% of the people were refusing on religious grounds... which is a reason I would not expect to change any time soon. In fact they were holding back vaccines to the Palestinians so that percentage of their population wont be vaccinated either.

The amusing thing is that some might think a great way of getting rid of the Palestinian problem would be to replace their vaccines with Placebos, but while that will probable get rid of a few of them it will also allow the virus to adapt and develop and become dangerous eventually to people who are vaccinated against the old variety... so they might end up with an own goal.

Experts talk about herd immunity where enough people are vaccinated that infected people don't come into contact with infectable people who refused the vaccine within their infectious time period so the virus stops spreading and dies out... the funny thing is that the goalposts keep moving because they really don't know what that figure might actually be so they might say 50% but then when 50% are vaccinated then they will say 60 or 70% to be sure... obviously the more that are vaccinated the better...

The battle for Europe rages on:

Berlin Red Cross favors using Sputnik V in Germany
17.03.2021

Earlier, the German government expressed its readiness in principle to use vaccines developed outside the European Union.

Issues of authorizing the use of anti-coronavirus vaccines in Germany, including Russia’s Sputnik V, must be handled outside of the ideological context, President of the Berlin Red Cross Mario Czaja said.

"We need even more effort, aimed at preparing all scientifically proven vaccines for prompt certification, without the ideological context," the Tagesspiegel newspaper quoted him as saying.

Earlier, the German government expressed its readiness in principle to use vaccines developed outside the European Union. Also, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Health Minister Jens Spahn named the key requirement for authorizing the use of a vaccine on the country’s territory: it should be certified by the European Medicines Agency.

On March 4, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) reported that the rolling review of the Russian jab had begun. The EU regulator stressed that specialists would check that the vaccine is up to par with EU standards of efficacy, safety and quality. Sputnik V ranks among the top three vaccines globally in the number of national use authorizations. Currently, the Russian shot has been registered in more than 50 countries around the world with the total population of over 1.3 billion people.

https://tass.com/world/1266763

So much posturing BS from these EU-tard EU-crats. As if they moved heaven and Earth to test Pfizer's crapcine. They merely rubber stamped
its approval. Now there is a multi-month jerk-off over "foreign" vaccines from Russia and China. The only contribution to Pfizer's miracle cure
of the finest snake oil is the retarded oil mix from Germany used to encase the viral mRNA. That does not make it safe or properly tested.

Consórcio Nordeste, a consortium of 9 poorer Brazilian Northeastern states has just signed the purchase of 37 million Russian Sputnik V vaccines. Governors are presently in contact with Brasilia to include the jabs in the National Immunization Plan.

https://www.brasil247.com/regionais/nordeste/consorcio-nordeste-fecha-a-compra-de-37-milhoes-de-doses-da-vacina-russa-sputnik-v?amp

The battle for Europe at present:

Heads of three Germany states (Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia) request the approval of Sputnik V vaccine.

https://mundo.sputniknews.com/20210318/jefes-de-3-estados-de-alemania-piden-la-aprobacion-de-la-vacuna-rusa-sputnik-v-1110109915.html

Left & right leaning Norwegian politicians request Sputnik V approval facing a record in the number of cases.

https://br.sputniknews.com/europa/2021031817151446-covid-19-politicos-noruegueses-pedem-aprovacao-da-sputnik-v-ante-recorde-no-numero-de-casos/

European Commission says has no doubts in quality of Sputnik V vaccine. European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton said that "Russians are pretty good scientists"

https://tass.com/world/1267179

Clearly better than the European ones.

SOS! EU countries are sliding deeply into a 'each on its own' process when confronting Covid-19 vaccines?

https://fr.sputniknews.com/international/202103181045367664-sauve-qui-peut-les-pays-de-lue-tombent-ils-dans-le-chacun-pour-soi-face-aux-vaccins/

Kiko wrote:SOS! EU countries are sliding deeply into a 'each on its own' process when confronting Covid-19 vaccines?

https://fr.sputniknews.com/international/202103181045367664-sauve-qui-peut-les-pays-de-lue-tombent-ils-dans-le-chacun-pour-soi-face-aux-vaccins/

This is the fault of the EU-crats and their yanqui ass licking. They could have approved Russian and Chinese vaccines a long time
ago. Instead they even massively botched the rollout of western vaccines (e.g. AstraZeneca).

This happens when your bureaucrats have a good relationship with companies/oligarchs. Which means they were bribed for decades.