Dr. John R. Finnegan

Yeah, I'll do that.

I think the phrase you used is a good one.

I've learned it as it's either a Chinese blessing or a Chinese curse.

Yeah.

And I think it's may you live in interesting times.

Yes.

If interesting means unprecedented, then certainly that's exactly where we are right now.

You know, I'm going to...

say a few things here about where I think we are.

And this isn't necessarily going to sound very hopeful, but I think it is realistic.

And I think it's important that we face this in a realistic way.

And this, of course, has to do with our current administration in Washington, DC.

And I think that we are headed for a global health crisis

And it's going to have far reaching consequences.

And my point here is that it's not just about the dismantling of health research, of public health infrastructure, you know, laying off thousands and thousands of people in the federal government.

And now, of course, that has a ripple effect.

We're laying off hundreds in local health agencies, including our own dear Minnesota Department of Health.

When you look at all of this, the US was probably the world's biggest player in public health.

And closing USAID and really cutting back on people working for the CDC and the 34, at least 3,400 and perhaps even more that were working for HHS, this loss

of person power, this loss of person years and experience, this loss of excellence.