Roots of this website: Kidney Dialysis Intro:
Even KIDS haven't been spared!!!!
Petition (and see our visit to DC and DC Press Conference + Rally)
The last couple of years have been spent on an anti-Mecca pilgrimage in May, a scouting mission if you will, to where the halls of worship of the great Green God of Money have been opened up to the public - Warren Buffett's May stockholders' meetings. Peashooters have been brought along on these trips, with the hope that one day that Mr. Buffett and cronies will catch one in the eye. With May 2025 coming up, another trip is being planned. (see bottom half of page - peashooters linked to)
Flights of fantasy? Tongue-in-Cheek humor? Or just weird Dad humor have been used to convey what has been going on in kidney dialysis over the decades: The Ghost of Charlie Munger. For those who prefer more professional humor, comedian John Oliver's skit from some years ago might provide a quick jab to the eye. And for those who want a deeper dive, NYT's best-selling author Tom Mueller came out with the book 'How to Make a Killing' fairly recently, what could be considered a haymaker punch! And for a flurry of punches that have been applied over the years, a reader might start with the facts. And then proceed to the scandals.
This naive waif once-upon-a-time thought Warren Buffett, a major shareholder of the for-profit dialysis company Davita must surely have fallen victim to an oversight when he inspected the product quality of Davita. (product quality, boy is that an understatement!). But then this waif was made aware by Tom Mueller that this may not have been a oversight, but a pattern of investing where having monopoly power is favored over product excellence. Mr. Mueller also opened my eyes to the broader world of monopoly corporate power abuse by introducing this misguided one to such writers as Matt Stoller: author of the book Goliath, David Dayen: author of Monopolized, and David Sirota: author of 'Hostile Takeover' - plus others. This helped inspire the first 'SaveTheBillionairesOrNot Walk' in Omaha in 2023. The 2nd Walk in 2024 was much like the first, but I would add I did have a nice conversation with a cop watching over the meeting area and the crowd going by. And also a doctor who was renting out a clinic space to DaVita. If nothing else, some awareness was raised and I got to meet some nice people.
After initially being freaked out the first year and having a family who seemed quite concerned about me, I'm actually looking forward to another Omaha trip this year. My family seems to have accepted this is what I do this time of year. As I'm fond of saying, some people going hunting, some go fishing, some go golfing - I go and try to annoy the hell out of a billionaire, a billionaire who has stuck his fingers into something that is more infrastructure, a public service - where choice hasn't been part of the equation.
P.S. As a bonus, a short article called 'Roads to Redemption' is being linked to. Is this just the product of a fevered imagination - or what could be waiting for Mr. Buffett after finishing walking the plank! A plank called life is what we all walk in this reality before we all wind up in the drink. I imagine at 94, Mr. Buffett is seeing that plank getting narrower and narrower.
