Sandoz (Novartis) Greed Is Out Of Control

On 9/22/2010 I picked up my subscription for Potassium Cl ER 20 MEQ at the local Costco Pharmacy. I received 30 pills and the cost was $20.53 -- 68 cents per pill. I thought the pharmacist had made a mistake because approximately a month before I received 90 pills for $9.99 -- 11 cents per pill. When questioned, the pharmacist informed me that the provider, Sandoz, had increased the price. When I expressed surprise at an increase of 618 % in one month's time, he informed me that other manufacturers stopped making the product and, lacking competition, Sandoz could charge whatever they wanted.


Obviously, Sandoz, a Novartis company, was making money on the product last month. Now they are making 618% more. Not a bad deal. If the price of a gallon of gasoline or milk (costing c. $2.50 a gallon) had a similar increase, a gallon would cost $15.45 next month. A six pack of beer (c. $7.00) would cost $43.26 next month.


And there are still people saying that the government should allow the pharmaceutical industry to do business (i.e., make money) as they see fit. This industry has proven over and over that their greed is out of control. 

How Many Jobs Will John Kasich Eliminate?

John Kasich (R) wants to be the next governor of Ohio and wants to eliminate Ohio's income tax while at the same time creating jobs. Not too original for a Republican; their genetic makeup contains a gene that is opposed to paying any money out of their pocket for the benefits government provides. As for creating jobs, everyone wants to do that, but Kasich believes that you have to give tax breaks to the wealthy to create jobs. Wasn't that what George W. Bush did? And why were fewer Americans working when Bush left office than when he took office?


But more importantly, Mr. Kasich has not revealed how he would replace the money generated by the income tax he wishes to remove. He may want to increase the Ohio sales tax as did a previous Republican governor. That of course would increase the tax burden on the middle class and the poor -- the classic Republican way of moving wealth from the middle class to the wealthy.


But, even more likely, his plan would eliminate jobs, the jobs of state employees. So the question becomes: how many and which jobs does he wish to eliminate?


How many highway patrolmen will he lay off? How many Ohio Highway Transportation workers will he fire? How many teachers, health inspectors, job and family service employees, insurance department employees, Motor Vehicle Bureau employees, mental health workers, or NRD employees?


The State of Ohio already has serious budgetary issues, and now the man who wants to be governor is going to try to eliminate the Ohio Income Tax. One need not be an economic genius to realize that such a move would result in many state employees losing their jobs. The question is: how many? Perhaps Mr. Kasich should answer that question before he asks for our vote.

Karra's Birthday Party 2010

New Motto for U.S.

         
"In Guns We Trust"
New Supreme Court 

Motto for U.S.

     (Buzzflash in Twitter)

GOP Goes With the Big Money

                  


As of  today, thanks to Republican Senators, 100,000 Ohioans will lose jobless benefits and have to resort to food stamps to feed their families. These guys (Republicans) were able to live with huge bank-bailouts, but just don't have the cajones to step up to the plate when their working-class constituents are in trouble. After all, the big banks and their lobbyists will provide huge campaign contributions, especially now that "their" Supreme Court has ruled that Goldman Sachs is  a "person" and can influence elections with its millions.


History has demonstrated that,  in a crisis, a government has to go to bat for the middle-class workers. Growth and recovery occur at that level, not at the level of the "Too-Big-To-Fail" good-old boys.


Unfortunately, "The Grand Old Party" has become beholden to and captive of the fanatical, one-issue conservative minority. History is replete with examples of great countries being destroyed by such political  propositions. Hopefully, our country is not one of the victims!

Why Do Commentators Pick on Justin Henin?

         

As the second week of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament begins, it appears to me and others that the women commentators for ESPN and NBC have some sort of bias against Justin Henin. They repeatedly find fault we her when she shouts, "Allez!" after she has won a point resulting from an opponent's error. They maintain this is an "in-your-face" taunt. "Allez!" means "Go!" or "Let's go!" Which isn't much different than Rafa Nadal shouting, "Vamos!" or a fist pump after an opponent's unforced error on a big point. It is not directed at the opponent, but is an attempt by a player to psyche herself up. Would they expect football players not to celebrate when an opponent drops a game-winning pass in the end-zone?


On the other hand, what is unsportsmanlike is the shrieking of many of the women tennis players.

Quote from Oscar Wilde

       

 “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
- Oscar Wilde

Motorcycles and Riders Need a New Color.

                 

In the interest of clarification: I like motorcycles,  and in an earlier time I liked to ride motorcycles until the day I wrecked a fine bike.

That being said, within the last two months, on two occasions, I have come close to causing a motorcycle accident because I did not see the motorcycle and its rider until the last moment. Fortunately, both times I was able to avoid colliding with the bike; but on careful assessment of each incident, I determined that the bike seemed to appear from "nowhere."

I think I have determined the cause of the problem which is that motorists frequently do not see motorcycles. Unfortunately, the vast majority of motorcycles are painted black or a dark color, and most motorcyclists wear black  clothing.  A black motorcycle with a rider wearing black in the shade of trees is almost invisible on a sunny day. Once the motorcycle moves into the sun light, it becomes visible to the motorist: but in some cases, that may too late.  

Motorcyclists tend to think that motorists show no respect for them, but I suggest that it is a problem of visibility. Insurance studies have indicated that white automobiles are involved in less accidents than black or dark-colored vehicles. One can then conclude that a black motorcycle with a rider clothed in black is in more jeopardy than a brightly-colored bike with a brightly-attired rider.

Granted that black may be "cool" in the biker community; it is not the safest color.

Rest assured, bikers, it's not that we disrespect you; it's that we do do not see you. Perhaps you could wear a brightly-colored vest or ride a brightly-colored bike.

Kasich's Irresponsible Platform for Ohio

                     


John Kasich (R) wants to replace Ted Strickland (D) as the next governor of Ohio; but, unfortunately, John doesn't get it. He apparently has no idea of the role of governor. Mr. Kasich, after leaving his Wall St. job at Lehman Brothers, is running for governor on the same old Rovian campaign of cutting and eliminating taxes.
He wants to repeal Ohio's income tax, the state's second largest source in income behind sales taxes, and then yesterday signed a pledge saying he would oppose and veto any effort to raise taxes.


 Great,  everybody would like to pay less in taxes; but the problem is Mr. Kasich has no plan as to how he is going to govern the State of Ohio after he eliminates nearly 50% of its revenues. Is he going to cut state spending on highways, education, infrastructure, penitentiaries, the highway patrol, environmental control, mining and safety programs, state employees' retirement programs, agricultural programs,  or unemployment services? The man has not said. Either he has no plan or he has a secret plan that he will tell us about after he is elected. Either of those options is unconscionable and irresponsible.


The governor's job is to balance the budget and execute the state programs that the people and the legislature have instituted. Mr. Kasich wants to eliminate nearly half of the state's revenue, but cannot tell us how he is going to balance the budget or tell us which state programs he is going to eliminate.


Such a position is the pinnacle of irresponsibility! Mr. Kasich, you are no longer on Wall Street; you can't sell us another batch of sub-prime loans.

Understanding Religious Language

     

Recently I recalled what a biblical scholar, Maurice Hofer,  frequently repeated: " Religious language is symbolic language." He would explain that the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Quran had Semitic origins, and those languages were extremely rich in symbolism and imagery.  The unfortunate aspect is that today people who do not appreciate that symbolism try to interpret those wonderful religious texts literally.