The video clip of Dr. Kellis's press conference was grainy, largely due to it having been recorded on a cellular phone—and not, Robert Stalnaker noted with a scowl, one of the better models. Not that it mattered on anything more than a cosmetic level; Dr. Kellis's pompous, self-aggrandizing speech had been captured in its entirety. "Intellectual mumbo-jumbo" was how Robert had described the speech after the first time he heard it, and how he'd characterized it yet again in communication with his editor.
"This guy thinks he can eat textbooks and shit miracles," that was the pitch. "He doesn't want people to understand what he's really talking about, because he knows America would be pissed off if he spoke English long enough to tell us how we're all about to get screwed." And just as he'd expected, his editor jumped at it.
The instructions were simple: no libel, no direct insults, nothing that was already known to be provably untrue. Insinuation, interpretation, and questioning the science were all perfectly fine, and might turn a relatively uninteresting story into something that would actually sell a few papers. In today's world, whatever sold a few papers was worth pursuing. Bloggers and internet news were cutting far, far too deeply into the paper's already weak profit margin.
"Time to do my part to fix that," muttered Stalnaker, and started the video again.
He struck gold on the fifth viewing. Pausing the clip, he wound it back six seconds and hit "play." Dr. Kellis's voice resumed, saying, "—distribution channels will need to be sorted out before we can go beyond basic lab testing, but so far, all results have been—"
Rewind. Again. "—distribution channels—"
Rewind. Again. "—distribution—"
Robert Stalnaker began to smile.
Half an hour later, his research had confirmed that no standard insurance program in the country would cover a non-vaccination preventative measure (and Dr. Kellis had been very firm about stating that his "cure" was not a vaccination). Even most of the upper-level insurance policies would balk at adding a new treatment for something considered to be of little concern to the average citizen—not to mention the money that the big pharmaceutical companies stood to lose if a true cure for the common cold were actually distributed at a reasonable cost to the common man. Insurance companies and drug companies went hand-in-hand so far as he was concerned, and neither was going to do anything to undermine the other.
This was all a scam. A big, disgusting, money-grubbing scam. Even if the science was good, even if the "cure" did exactly what its arrogant geek-boy creator said it did, who would get it? The rich and the powerful, the ones who didn't need to worry about losing their jobs if the kids brought home the sniffles from school. The ones who could afford the immune boosters and ground-up rhino dick or whatever else was the hot new thing right now, so that they'd never get sick in the first place. Sure, Dr. Kellis never said that, but Stalnaker was a journalist. He knew how to read between the lines.
Robert Stalnaker put his hands to the keys, and prepared to make the news.
***
Robert Stalnaker's stirring editorial on the stranglehold of the rich on public health met with criticism from the medical establishment, who called it "irresponsible" and "sensationalist." Mr. Stalnaker has yet to reply to their comments, but has been heard to say, in response to a similar but unrelated issue, that the story can speak for itself...
When will you Rise?
May 4 2011, 19:07:34 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 19:08:53 UTC 6 years ago
Urk. He's a weenie. I'm sure every scientist has a non-altruistic reason for trying to help people.
May 4 2011, 19:10:34 UTC 6 years ago
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May 4 2011, 19:37:17 UTC 6 years ago
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punctuation
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May 4 2011, 19:17:56 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 19:23:13 UTC 6 years ago
Or: Beth can see where this is heading... (And does hope that you will be able to bind all these into a Something, Someday.)
May 4 2011, 19:24:23 UTC 6 years ago
I just bought the Cleo De Nile/Deuce Gorgon Monster High set. I blame you. ;-)
May 4 2011, 19:45:14 UTC 6 years ago
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May 4 2011, 19:24:24 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 19:50:01 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 19:58:24 UTC 6 years ago
It might easily be said that the creators of this plague are evil, but they are scientists seeking to relieve human misery, or journalists seeking to ensure justice. But so many died as a result of these good intentions.
May 4 2011, 21:02:03 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 21:24:26 UTC 6 years ago
May 5 2011, 08:24:55 UTC 6 years ago
You could try Forbidden Planet (whose prices are usually about the same as Amazon and sometimes lower). They tend to get books in for release day, but again tend to sell them fast. (Hmm, it isn't listed on their webpage. But that doesn't mean much...)
Or Waterstones, who have it listed and say it's expected in 28 days (not sure when it's updated, so that may have been days from yesterday).
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May 4 2011, 21:54:02 UTC 6 years ago
That is all.
May 4 2011, 22:00:33 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 22:10:46 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 22:49:26 UTC 6 years ago
May 4 2011, 23:20:52 UTC 6 years ago
I am in Chile studying their health care system's response to major disasters, including pandemics. Given how much more money we spend on the problem, it's kind of sad how far ahead of the US they are in simple things, like convincing people to get flu shots. The problem with this field is that every so often I want to decide its time to give up, because mankind probably deserves our inevitable extinction.
May 4 2011, 23:48:15 UTC 6 years ago
May 5 2011, 02:41:26 UTC 6 years ago
May 5 2011, 06:18:18 UTC 6 years ago
May 5 2011, 06:27:55 UTC 6 years ago
Looool! XD
May 5 2011, 11:55:29 UTC 6 years ago
May 5 2011, 19:01:56 UTC 6 years ago
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May 6 2011, 01:52:16 UTC 6 years ago
So excited. And just in time for my birthday.
May 12 2011, 05:49:36 UTC 6 years ago Edited: May 12 2011, 05:50:06 UTC
And not only was Stalnaker not actually at the conference, but he's getting a grainey cell phone clip.
And, given what few words Stalnaker is using, and that he's taking them utterly out of context... just what was Dr. Kellis actually saying, and to what kind of audience?
May 12 2011, 12:33:17 UTC 6 years ago
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June 17 2011, 02:55:05 UTC 6 years ago