Blog #21: Some Action on Drugs (the legal kind), Immigration, Financial Hacking, and a bit more Stupendous Stupidity

Hi, folks, Old Bus back.

I had planned on a little review of some works on the economy and financial sector by some people far better qualified than me, but I came across a couple good news items that I thought you should know about.  Plus, old Bloomberg Biz Week tried to freak us all out with an over-the-top cover announcing in bold red and black letters, “THE NASDAQ ATTACK,” which happened four years ago!!

First the good news:

Old pap was reading an article which stated that more than 40 people were dying everyday of prescription drug overdoses.

THAT’S NOT THE GOOD NEWS!

Although I had opined back in our discussion on Healthcare that our legal drug problem was as bad as the illegal one, I hadn’t focused on how deadly the legal stuff was as well.  So, old pap did some googling and sure enough, prescribed opioid painkillers may be feelin’ good, but they are killing more people than heroin and cocaine combined.  Can you fathom that information?  More than forty (40) people are dying each and every day!  Do you know who the real perps are?  On your good old TV you will see one or several shootings almost every day, but have you ever seen anything on that Telly about the 40 people dying by legal drugs every day?  No, of course not, because the TV producers are counting their profits derived from constantly airing the Big Pharma promotions of those drugs!  So, for $64,000, who are the perps?  Wake up America – and turn off that bloody TV set!!

Finally, the good news in this horrid situation – because of the FDA’s slow-motion actions to halt improper advertising by big pharma, civil lawsuits filed in the past month by Chicago and California’s Santa Clara and Orange countie’s accuse Purdue Pharma and four other drugmakers of soft-pedaling the risks of the medications.  Both suits seek to force “defandants to cease their unlawful promotion of opiods and to correct their misrepresentations” as well as pay unspecified damages.  These suits are reminiscent of those filed against tobacco companies in the 1990’s that ended most cigarette advertising and helped push down smoking rates.  So, just maybe it is still possible that the people and their local government entities can change the destructive habits of Big Corporate America?

On another extremely controversial issue we again have some states beginning to act independently from our now immobile congress.  New York will even consider a bill to grant state citizenship to undocumented immigrants.  It is not expected to go anywhere this legislative session, but at least there are some people looking for immigration solutions.  Something certainly needs to be done.  The varying responses to the current situation of 12 million or so mostly good people in limbo and the continuing border tragedy are absolutely inadequate to say the least!

FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T BEEN TO ELLIS ISLAND, PHYSICALLY OR ONLINE:

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Now, old pappy and I recognize that we can’t accomodate all of the world’s “wretched refuse,” for goodness sakes, there are 600 million in India alone with no running water or toilets.  Could it be though that our greed and “false pride” have completely eroded our sense of charity (unless, of course, we can deduct it)?

A BIT OF COMIC RELIEF:

Russian hackers (probably Vladimir’s gang) broke into the NASDAQ computers — that was four years ago, but our govamint nerds haven’t exactly figured out how or why just yet.  Gosh, does our vaunted financial rigging face more danger from foreign hackers or the home-grown crooks on Wall Street?

Come on, you’re not rolling in the aisles?

HOW ABOUT A BIT MORE STUPENDOUS STUPIDITY?

Good old John Boehner and his troupe of wild Partiers (how can you get so fired up on Tea?) are planning to sue the Prez!  Not sure if they wish to prohibit him from carrying out any of his executive duties or what, but they apparently want to move their radical obstructionism to another level.  Maybe they just want to ensure that the present congress will be the very least productive in our history!  What happened to the Loyal Opposition?

Hang in there, Buster