A toddler with a gun

A young mother was shot and killed by her 2-year-old son  in an Idaho Walmart, police said.

Lt. Stu Miller of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said that the boy was sitting in the shopping cart when pulled the handgun from his mom's purse and pulled the trigger. Police identified the victim as Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, of Blackfoot, Idaho.

 

The preliminary investigation shows the shooting was an accident, police said. He added that the victim was from out of town and may have been visiting relatives for the holidays. The boy was with family members.

 

Rutledge was shopping in the electronics section of the Hayden, Idaho, store, about 40 miles from Spokane, Washington, when the shooting happened. The store was immediately evacuated and was to be closed until Wednesday. The investigation was ongoing.

 

"A very sad and tragic incident happened in our Hayden store involving a female customer, and we're working with the local sheriff's department while they investigate what happened," Walmart spokesperson. 

Danger is everywhere, particularly if you create it yourself. Just a thought.

Out of Afghanistan

After 13 years of military engagement in Afghanistan, the US-led involvement in the Middle Eastern country ended on Monday on a subdued note.

With Kabul subject to repeated Taliban bombings, the authorities took the decision to conduct the closing ceremony at an undisclosed location somewhere in the capital.
The campaign has come at a heavy cost, with 3,500 foreign soldiers having died in the war and $1 trillion being spent.

At the conclusion of the longest war in America’s history President Obama said: “We salute every American – military and civilian, including our dedicated diplomats and development workers – who have served in Afghanistan, many on multiple tours, just as their families have sacrificed at home.”

About 13,000 foreign troops, mostly Americans, will remain in the country under a new, two-year mission named “Resolute Support” that will continue the coalition’s training of Afghan security forces to fight the insurgents, who have killed record numbers of Afghans this year.

You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Just a thought.

Macadamia Nuts...*!

Heather Cho [Cho Hyun-ah] resigned from the airline's catering, in-flight sales business, its cabin service and hotel business divisions.

But she is keeping her title as a vice president of the national carrier. Just far away from Nuts.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Cho is the eldest daughter of Korean Air's chairman, Cho Yang-ho.

The incident occurred Friday at New York's JFK airport on a flight due to take off for South Korea's, outside Seoul.

Cho reportedly demanded that the plane go back to the gate so the crew member who served her could be kicked off the flight.

Korean Air is facing $1.3 Million fine after CEO's daughter delayed takeoff in response to macadamia nut service.

According to her biography, Heather Cho joined the airline in 1999 and has since been "actively involved in establishing a new corporate identity for Korean Air." She studied at Cornell University and the University of Southern California.

Nuts any one?     Just a thought.

A friend...?

The Turkish gunman who shot and wounded John Paul II in 1981 laid white flowers Saturday on the saint's tomb in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican officials said.

The surprise visit by Mehmet Agca, believed to be his first time in the Vatican since the assassination attempt, lasted a few minutes, a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said. 

Benedettini said there are no legal matters pending against Agca in the Vatican and he was free to visit. Agca's trip came on the 31st anniversary of his meeting with the pope.

John Paul, forgave his attacker, visited Agca in a Rome prison on Dec. 27, 1983, and later intervened to gain Agca's release in 2000. Agca was extradited to Turkey For the 1979 killing of a Turkish journalist and he completed a 10-year sentence.

When Agca was apprehended after shooting the pontiff in St. Peter's Square during a public audience, the Turk said he acted alone. Later he suggested Bulgaria and the Soviet secret services masterminded the attack on the Polish-born pontiff, whose championing of the Polish Solidarity labor movement alarmed Moscow.

Twice, Italian juries acquitted three Bulgarians and three Turks of alleged roles in the shooting. Agca has often given contradictory accounts and has claimed to be a Messiah.

Italian TV ran a brief video of the tomb visit, apparently filmed by an Italian journalist accompanying Agca in the basilica. The Turk is heard to mumble, "A thousand thanks, saint," and "Long live Jesus Christ."

He also said: "Today I have come because on Dec. 27, 1983, I met the pope."

Just a thought.

In Search....

Officer Rafael Ramos.

Sextremist...?*

A blond pro-choice activist wearing nothing over her torso except the written words "God is Woman" interrupted a Nativity scene at the St. Peter's Square in Rome on Christmas Day.

An online video of the incident shows the woman sneak underneath the fence and then storm the nativity display on a stone stage as hundreds of people watched.

She grabs the baby Jesus and hoists it over her head and yelled a message, but the video did not contain audio. She was quickly apprehended by an officer who covered her in his jacket. Eventually several cops responded and the woman was taken away in a vehicle.   Baby Jesus was returned to his manger.

The woman is part of Femen, an organization of topless female protestors who oppose the political power of the clergy.
The group states on its website that the unidentified "sextremist" was part of its campaign that opposes the church's stance on women's rights over their own bodies.

"The maniacal desire to control women's fertility is a common trait of many religions, National Socialism, nationalism and other antediluvian, anti-humanist ideologies," the group says. "Abortion is sacred!"

People are looking for the "Naked" Truth.         Just a thought.

"Don't Cry for.... Sony

The cyberattack on Sony exposed sensitive internal communications and coerced theater chains to drop one of the company's films. It represents a seminal moment in the advancement of hacking.

While the attack was not technologically sophisticated, its success may embolden other cyber criminals to follow suit.  The hackers not only released internal emails and other information, but wiped data from Sony's system.

North Korea called the comedy an "evil act of provocation" and threatened "stern punishment" against its star and co-director Seth Rogen. The crippling Sony Pictures hack followed soon after, with the studio's upcoming films and confidential, industry-shaking emails leaked.

Meanwhile, North Korea still denies any involvement in the Sony hack, even as the FBI pointed the finger at them. North Korea has issued a proposal for a joint investigation into the incident.

Sony Cancelled then cancelled the cancelation of broadcasting the film as the President, the Country and the public stood fast against this threat.

All in All, North Korea, if true, gave Sony a free publicities, no one else got, for a  (Non-Sense) movie. Let us see the review and the revenue once the dust settles.

Just a thought.

A Week-End- AbbVie

On Friday, the FDA approved AbbVie's Viekira Pak.
AbbVie had done Gilead a huge favor pricing its new hepatitis C drug on par with Gilead's Harvoni.
 
AbbVie announced a deal with Express Scripts making Viekira Pak the Exclusive hepatitis C drug covered by the pharmacy benefits manager for patients infected with the genotype 1 virus, [most common in US]. Gilead's Sovaldi will still be available for other genotypes 

Neither Express Scripts nor AbbVie is disclosing how much of a discount to get the exclusivity. You can't blame them; it's not to either company's advantage to disclose it, tipping off the authorities, the public, and the Congressional bodies.

Gilead was down 14% on the day of the annoucement,  investors are worried about the potential to be knocked out of other markets or give steep discounts. The discount problem is compounded because the price that government programs Medicare and Medicaid pay for drugs are set based on the price drug-makers give to private insurers. We could be in a full-blown price war soon between corporation to their own benefits.

With a thousand Dollars [$1000] per day treatment, the Pharmaceutical companies, PBMs and the Insurances having a FIESTA while the 3 Millions US patient is paying three folds the price of a European or Canadian patients. 

Chuck Schumer asking how come the Airline tickets is priced high while oil prices collapsing?  The answer is simple.
You don't have to travel, but you have to have health. Pay a little attention to what is important.

Just a thought.

Recklessness...?*

A Canadian woman was sentenced to 90 days in jail, no driving for 10 years and 240 hours of community service  for causing two deaths in 2010 when she stopped her car on a Quebec highway to help a group of ducklings crossing the road. Emma Czornobaj convicted of two counts each of criminal negligence and dangerous driving causing death.

According to media reports, Czornobaj stopped her car abruptly in the passing lane of a highway south of Montreal when she saw the ducklings. The motorcycle behind Czornobaj’s car then crashed into her vehicle, killing the 50-year-old man driving the motorcycle and his 16-year-old daughter.

“I just wanted to pick all these ducklings up and put them in my car,” Czornobaj had testified during her trial. “I know it was a mistake.”  

 She could have been killed with the ducks and others by this action.             Just a thought.

Big Mac.

 A government labor watchdog has accused McDonald's and some franchise owners of violating workers rights by retaliating against them for taking part in fast food protests.

According to the NLRB, the restaurant owners reduced hours and discharged some workers who took part in the movement. The employers also engaged in other "coercive conduct" against its employees, including surveillance, interrogations and restricting worker's ability to communicate with union representatives.

Worker advocates say the complaints filed suggest that the NLRB general counsel has seen evidence that McDonald's meets the legal definition of a joint employer.

McDonald's said in a statement that it will contest the allegations. The government agency "improperly and dramatically strike at the heart of the franchise system -- a system that creates economic opportunity, jobs and income for thousands of business owners and their employees across the country. You be the judge.         Just a thought.                                    [CNN]

Cuba's Deal

President Obama’s announcement to overhaul U.S. policy toward Cuba is historic.  The relationship between both nations frozen in time for decades despite the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

A spy swap, loosening of travel and economic restrictions, and launching of discussions to re-establish full diplomatic relations go as far as the president can go without congressional authorization. Now the ball is in the later.

Obama's unilateral move has gently shaken up the 2016 race to succeed him, exposing divisions among Republicans and possibly helping.

Potential contenders Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio adhered to the traditional Republican hard line. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who has a libertarian streak, backed the new policy. Paul said the 50-year-old embargo with Cuba "just hasn't worked."

Hillary Clinton also had asserted the previous policy was not working. In her memoir, "Hard Choices," she wrote that she urged Obama to shift. 

The isolation of Cuba kept the country backward for about 50 years. Thus there is no additional action can be taken against. On the other hand, Russia, the  restriction imposed is impacting the Russian economy hard and will eventually change their behavior. In other word, Obama's decision is historic. Just a thought.

Cigars...?*

President Obama announced the most significant change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in more than 50 years, paving the way for the normalization of relations and the opening of a U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Obama said "we will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries."These 50 years have shown, isolation has not worked. 

Obama said as these changes unfold, he will talk to Congress about lifting the embargo on Cuba. The U.S. severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961, shortly after Fidel Castro and his communist rebels ousted dictator Fulgencio Batista.

This decision by President Obama deserves the respect and recognition of our people," Castro said. However, this "does not mean that the most important issue has been resolved. The embargo on our country ... has to end."

The same "know it all" came out against the decision. So much talk, but the Republicans’ outcry against the new policy contradicts their own faith in the power of free market economies.   

Nobody dared to approach this issue for years. Obama did.

Just a thought.

Break nothin...

The unnamed man hired a crane in the town of Ijsselstein to lower him over his girlfriend’s house and into her garden for the surprise proposal on Saturday morning, emergency services spokesman Jelle Mulder told AFP.

The over amorous Dutchman became a home wrecker when the crane fell through the neighbor's roof.

During the attempt to right the crane up, it unfortunately slipped and fell on the house again,” he said. Neighboring houses were evacuated.
“We’re looking at the best way to lift the crane without it falling again,” said Mulder.

No one was hurt. “The people in the house the crane fell on are deeply shocked,” 

Despite the fiasco, the girlfriend accepted the marriage proposal, Dutch media reported, and the couple have gone on a holiday trip to Paris.  Then they have to pay dearly.

See the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wvenwxi10U

China woman Fined.

Former ally of China’s railway chief was ordered by a Beijing court to pay the largest fine so far after being convicted of bribery earlier this year.

Ding Yuxin was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 2.5 billion yuan ($403 million) for paying bribes and engaging in illegal business, the court said. 

“The number was extremely large and the violation was very serious,” Tang Bo, senior partner at W&H Law Firm, said in Beijing. 

Ding’s sentencing comes amid a two-year anti-corruption campaign to curb the graft that could erode the party’s legitimacy. More than 80,000 officials have been punished for breaking party rules, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Ding, 59, was described in her trial as the major financial backer of former Railway Minister, intervening in bidding for railway projects worth about 185 billion yuan and engaging in illegal business operations.

During trial, prosecutors said she gave Liu 49 million yuan in exchange for helping her and affiliated companies win 57 railway construction projects, in violation of state regulations, Xinhua reported.

Wide spread.....  Just a thought.

Sydney's Hostage

"We have seen, in the worst of times, the best of people,” Tony Abbott

 

 

Billing Fraud

The United States’ alleges that CareMed made false statements to insurance companies to secure prior authorization for the coverage of drugs by, among other things, fabricating Medicare beneficiaries’ medical information and posing as representatives of prescribing physicians’ offices when calling insurers.

The Complaint also alleges that CareMed engaged in double-billing by re-stocking unused dosages of Procrit and Rituxan, and then re-selling the drugs and re-billing insurance companies that provide prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries or Medicaid.

In addition, the Complaint alleges that CareMed submitted false claims for payment for automatic refills of Procrit and Rituxan that were not actually received by patients and their doctors. The lawsuit seeks damages and penalties under the False Claims Act.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney filed a civil fraud lawsuit  “CareMed”, a New York-based pharmacy that sells high-cost specialty drugs used to treat conditions that require complex treatment, such as cancer.

the United States has settled the claims against CareMed pursuant to a settlement stipulation approved today by U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote. In the settlement.

It is time to clean up the fraud. You must read your copy of billing. Just a thought.

Obama's Rebate?

President Obama is making America more energy independent and supporting jobs. Domestic energy-related emissions have fallen to their lowest level in 20 years, and our dependence on foreign oil is at a 20-year low — and declining.

America is producing more oil, gas, and renewable energy, and is becoming more energy efficient overall. These trends are increasing our energy security, cutting our carbon pollution, and enhancing our economic growth.

This Administration has made the largest investment in clean energy in American history.  Increased solar electricity generation by more than ten-fold, and tripled electricity production from wind power.

The Obama administration has taken several actions that advance energy efficiency in our vehicles and homes. Through partnerships with rural electric cooperatives, home efficiency upgrades, and private-sector partnerships. America has been able to cut its carbon emissions.

The prices of oil and Gasoline collapsed 40%. More money in the pocket of house owners, car owners and everybody else.

Obama Care and Obama Rebate are great gifts from this Administration, similar to Clinton's Budget Surplus. There is more to come.

See Obama promoting his Care on Steve Colbert show.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes/9pryj4/december-8--2014---barack-obama#time=4m21s&index=1

Google and Canada Pills

Google has avoided a criminal prosecution in the US after agreeing to pay $500m to settle a government investigation into its display of advertisements from Canadian pharmacies which illegally sold prescription and non-prescription drugs to American consumers.

The settlement means the company will not face prosecution over accusations that it improperly profited from the ads. The $500m represents the gross revenues Google collected from the Canadian pharmacies plus the earnings generated by the illegal sales of drugs to American consumers, federal investigators said.

The Canadian prescriptions sold to American customers were considered “misbranded” under the statute because they were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. In some cases, the drugs were obtained from countries other than Canada that lacked adequate regulation of pharmacies. In reality it is the same medication and the same items.

So why wouldn't The United States legalize the importation of medications from Canada and other Nations to overcome the prices that is 100 to 500% more in cost and wipes out seniors' social securities? Why can't we change the law??

Just a thought.

It is the same medicine, should be the same cost. Just a thought.

Avril...






Avril Lavigne

Scheme

A new lawsuit claims CEO of Sanofi and other executives conducted a scheme to funnel tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks and other incentives to get the company's diabetes drugs prescribed and sold.

The whistleblower lawsuit also claims Sanofi CEO Christopher Viehbacher was fired by the company's board "in part, because he was involved in the aforesaid illegal and/or fraudulent activity," which allegedly went on "over the course of many years."

The suit says that Sanofi used contracts that appeared to be for legitimate purposes to direct money to hospitals, doctors and retail pharmacy chains to induce them to purchase and prescribe Sanofi's diabetes medication. It also claims that "approximately $1 billion is missing from Defendant Sanofi which has not been accounted for."

This come two years after the drug company reached an agreement with the Justice Department to settle claims that it engaged in kickbacks by giving doctors free samples of an arthritis drug as a way to encourage them to buy and prescribe that medication.
It impacts federal Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs, the tax payer wallet,
[CNBC-Dan Mangan]

Just a thought.             

Bill Cosby.

The LA Times reported that Hayes is claiming that Cosby groped her breasts in 1973 while they were at a restaurant.

Chelan, said that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1986 when she was just 17, the same location where Florida nurse Therese Serignese claims she was raped by Cosby 10 years prior.

According to the LA Times, Chelan [identified by her first name only] told press that Cosby gave her a blue pill to "help with a cold." After she took it, she found that she couldn't move or say anything and that he began sexually assaulting her before she blacked out. She said she awoke hours later to hear Cosby clapping his hands and saying, "Daddy says wake up." He gave her $1,500 to buy something nice for her and her grandmother, she told reporters at the news conference.

Feminist attorney Gloria Allred addressed Bill Cosby,  threw down the gauntlet, asking Cosby to either waive the statute of limitations on allegations that more than 20 women have brought against him, or set up a $100 million account for his accusers and let a panel of retired judges review the claims.

Statute of limitation has expired, accusation were very old, but the Media, all of a sudden, are excited about it. Here is a suggestion of using 100 million of his money to start.... many don't believe the accusation. Just a thought.

Prices of Medication UP 500X

 

The prices for some common generic medicines soared over the past 18 months, state and federal lawmakers are trying to find relief for patients struggling to pay.

 

A Senate panel convened to investigate price increases for generic drugs. Separately, Senators Amy Klobuchar and McCain will revive stalled legislation to allow some prescription imports from Canada. The State of Maine is testing out a hotly contested new law that allows its residents to buy drugs from overseas, flouting United States policy.

 

One half of generic medicines went up in price 10% less than a year; about 10 percent more than doubled in cost in that time, with some common medicines rising by over 500 percent, [Thyroid replacement hormone, the antibiotic doxycycline, the heart pill digoxin and the asthma pill albuterol].

 

The United States does not regulate drug pricing or negotiate prices nationally like other countries, generic medicines have long been a safety valve for American patients, at lower costs. Historically, after the patent expires, generic copies have entered the fray, bringing prices down, often sharply.

 

A 90-day supply of the generic heart medicine digoxin sells for $187 in New York; the branded version, Lanoxin, sells for $24.30 in Canada. A month’s supply of a generic steroid to treat inflammatory bowel disease sells for $1,625 in the United States, while the branded version sells for $155.70 in Canada. It is all in the laws.

 

We are robbing the elderly from their social securities to pay the exaggerated prices of medications.    It is time to do the right thing. Open Market condition will level the prices out.

See my patent application  #11/081,991.

 

Just a thought.

Ferguson ???

Six Bullets...

Tracey Grissom says that when she shot her ex-husband, Hunter, in Northport, Alabama, she feared for her life, a fear she'd felt many times before.
"He had hurt me. He had done a lot of things to me. I didn't want him to be dead. 

She met Hunter Grissom in 2003. Tracey was just 21, and had a  son going through a divorce. "He absolutely loved my son.  she said of Hunter.

It was love at first sight. "He was sucked in immediately,"
Hunter was two years younger than Tracey. When the couple eloped in 2004.

Eight months later, the marriage was in trouble. After threatening him with divorce, Hunter promised to stop using marijuana and their relationship improved so much that Tracey leveraged everything she owned so they could start a business together, all in Tracey's name.

We had tried to have a child for quite some time. We actually had five miscarriages before we had her," Tracey said. "She was premature. Her heart and lungs were not developed."

Tracey says around 10 p.m., Hunter took her to the bedroom, bound her legs, raped her and then threw her against the bathtub......

Tracey had emptied her entire gun, six shots. Then she called 911. She was convicted.

Watch and learn. Just a thought.

On Edge-Ferguson.

Missouri governor declares state of emergency ahead of ruling by Grand Jury. Security has been beefed up, with National Guard troops and extra FBI agents.

One activist protester tells CNN that there won't be any violence.

Two men suspected of buying explosives they planned to detonate during protests in Ferguson, Mo, were arrested on Friday and charged with federal firearms offenses.

If I can't open my doors every morning, I can't feed my kids in the evening," the mother of two tells CNN. She hopes her store will not become a target during protests, which potentially could become violent.

This is a country that allows everybody to express their views, allows them to peacefully assemble, to protest actions that they think are unjust," Obama told ABC.

"But using any event as an excuse for violence is contrary to rule of law and contrary to who we are."

Note: To disturb people's life for months, use violence against the police, rob stores and destroy it, hinder businesses and commerce, is far criminal than what happened. Destroy livelihood, prevent children from going to school, elderly from buying food, patients to see their doctors , and communities from feeling safe is criminal.

So stop it....... Go back to do some work and let others build their and their children's lives. The Grand jury will make its decision anyway they see fit.

Just a thought.

You too-Uber?

A top executive of the ride service reportedly described a Nixonian plan to dig up dirt on journalists who criticize it and sully their reputations.

A Buzzfeed reporter wrote that when she attended a meeting with an Uber executive in New York, he was monitoring her arrival in one of the company’s cars.

The author Peter Sims said his personal travel information was apparently shown on a wall at an Uber launch party, and the anecdotal evidence that the company has played fast and loose with its customers’ data is pretty compelling.

A writer for San Francisco Magazine said sources inside the company warned her that the company might monitor her rides.

The Uber public relations debacles spread across other areas: reports of Uber officials ordering cars from competitor Lyft in order to poach its drivers; a sexist promotion for its service in Lyon, France.

The company has renounced the thuggish campaign of targeting critics that its senior vice president for business, Emil Michael, described in a dinner party attended by the BuzzFeed editor Ben Smith.

So, Grow up.       Just a thought.

Greed or just ...?

A minor Chinese official rose to infamy after anticorruption detectives discovered more than $20 million worth of renminbi in cash, 37 kilograms of gold bars and 68 property ownership documents in his family home, according to The New York Times' Sinosphere blog. Ma Chaoqun was arrested with his brother in February, and five other family members also have been apprehended.

But the official's mother, said her son is honest and that the bounty belonged to her deceased husband, a doctor who accrued the wealth by dabbling in side business ventures.

She said her son was the victim of a vendetta plot, planned by his boss to prevent him from exposing an alleged embezzlement scheme. The mother said she packed the cash into more than 40 boxes after her husband died in 2012 and stored them in a closet in the family home. "My husband thought it was too much trouble going to the bank to get money," Zhang said, "Some of the money hadn't been touched for years and was growing moldy,".

Ma was the general manager of a state-run water supply company in northern China. He had a negative reputation among the locals who depended on water service. Residents told Xinhua that Ma demanded money for water services. If the payment was too low, water would be cut off. 

A low level official, huh. You'll be the judge.

Just a thought.

Scoop...?

The Wall Street Journal has learned of a new federal law enforcement program that uses cell signals to track criminal suspects.

The Justice Department is scooping up data from thousands of mobile phones through devices deployed on airplanes that mimic cellphone towers, a high-tech hunt for criminal suspects, according to people familiar with the operations.

The U.S. Marshals Service program, fully functional since 2007, operates Cessna aircraft from at least five metropolitan-area airports, with a flying range covering most of the U.S. population.

The technology in the two-foot-square device enables investigators to scoop data from tens of thousands of cellphones in a single flight, collecting their identifying information and general location, and activities.

Phone companies are cut out in the search for suspects. Law enforcement has found that asking a company for cell-tower information to help locate a suspect can be slow and inaccurate.

Calling it "a dragnet surveillance program," Christopher Soghoian, chief technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union, said: "It's inexcusable and it's likely - to the extent judges are authorizing it - they have no idea of the scale of it."

Whatever it is, we need to know all about it. Its success and failure.

Just a thought.

Olive oil.....

Olive oil is great for your health and a staple of the Mediterranean diet. It’s still steeped in mystery and confusion. 

All olive oils have roughly the same amount of calories and fat. “Light” refers to the color and flavor of this oil, and is highly refined.

Extra virgin olive oil has a lower smoke point than others. It’s perfectly safe for sautéing at medium temperatures. It is the purest form of olive oil, and contains the most health supportive oleic acid so there’s no need to use it only for salad dressing.

A slightly bitter taste can indicate the presence of antioxidants.  With a fresh extra virgin olive oil, you should taste, olives, and also some grassy or fruity notes.

The oil goes rancid quicker with heat and light. Look for dark-colored glass or tin container, and store it in a cool spot, away from sunlight.

It’s better to buy olive oil in smaller quantities to use it up within about 6 weeks.

For quality, look for seals from the USDA, the North American Olive Oil Association, the California Olive Oil Council, or the Extra Virgin Alliance. The fridge test is no go. Just a thought

Exception...

U.S. stock prices rose, hovering near record highs, while crude fell below $80 a barrel for the first time in four years on further signs of a slowdown in China's economy.
Brent crude has fallen more than 30 percent since June 2014, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said demand for its members' oil could drop by about a million barrels per day in 2015 due to the U.S. shale boom.

Falling energy costs, while positive for consumers, have raised concerns about profits of major oil companies and their capital spending, analysts said.

The price of WTI oil around $75/Barrel. This is half the price of oil per Barrel on 2007. While the Temp was 90 F on August 2014, the oil price was $108/Barrel. Today the temp reaches 40F, and the oil is $75/Barrel.

A lot has happened since then. US use of natural Gas and Oil output from shale increased despite falling global prices as drillers become more efficient.

By the end of this winter, prices of oil will be around $50/Barrel or less, a change the world hasn't seen recently in any thing. The revenue will dwindle greatly for the producer Countries, oil companies, buying oil stock on margin, etc and will result in economical difficulties.

Just a thought.

Low level Marijuana?

NY Police Commissioner announced that officers will now be allowed to issue simple summonses for certain low-level marijuana offenses, rather than making arrests.
The policy allows Criminal Court summonses for anyone found in possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana in a public place open to view.

Such offenders will just get a ticket and will not be handcuffed, fingerprinted or photographed. “This policy will allow officers, in the case where they do find it appropriate to give a summons, to continue on with their work,” de Blasio said.

The new policy does not apply if someone is smoking marijuana out in the open, or if it is intended for dealing rather than personal use. Those with outstanding warrants or  wanted, or have no identification, will be arrested, Bratton said. He would rather narcotics officers dedicate their focus to the heroin epidemic.

There is bigger fish to fry. Just a thought.

Dendreon.

Dendreon Corp. makes the prostate cancer treatment Provenge. It said its restructuring will allow for the continued delivery of the drug to doctors and patients.

Prostate cancer drug developer is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It

listed more than $664 million in total debts.  Its largest creditor is Bank of New York Mellon, which holds $620 million in notes.

The company has reached agreements on the terms of a financial restructuring with investors.The company will attempt to sell itself to a buyer that would continue to produce Provenge [Valeant].

The drug represented a first-of-a-kind treatment in that each dose is customized to use the body's own immune system to fight cancer. That contrasts with traditional chemotherapy drugs that attack cancerous and healthy cells at the same time.

Dendreon's vaccine costs more than $90,000 per patient and has been found to have extended the life of advanced prostate cancer patients by about 4 months in trials.

Newer prostate cancer drugs have squeezed the vaccine's potential. Competing drugs, such as Medivation Inc's Xtandi and Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga, have the added advantage of being easier to use and Cheaper.

High cost, minimum outcome will take you down and out every time. Just a thought.

The War Zone- San Fernando.

Image is not related.

Francisco Garcia had left a party at his girlfriend's house and was on a sidewalk in the San Fernando Valley around 2 a.m. when two cars pulled up. A man got out of one vehicle, smashed a beer bottle on the ground and yelled at Garcia before going back to the second car to grab a gun, police said. Garcia died at the scene. No one else was injured.
Garcia is a 21-year-old Army veteran  who return from, the war zone in Afghanistan, only few months earlier. 

Brian Enriquez, 21, told the Los Angeles Times that he, Garcia and a group of friends left Garcia's girlfriend's house when she decided to go to sleep. They headed to another gathering when the cars pulled up.

The ironies are obvious. To survive as a soldier in an overseas conflict, only to be killed in your neighborhood upon your return.

How ironic?  Just a thought.

Mitch McConnell

Speaker John Boehner, celebrating a widened majority, said he is "humbled by the responsibility the American people have placed with us."

"But this is not a time for celebration," he said. "It's time for government to start getting results and implementing solutions to the challenges facing our country, starting with our still-struggling economy.

 

The message from voters is clear: they want us to work together," Reid said. "I look forward to working with Senator McConnell to get things done for the middle class."

 

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he expects to get things done and will open the Senate floor to amendments once he takes over as the new majority leader early next year.

 

He wants to work with the president on a variety of issues, including passage of international trade agreements and tax reform, which he said Obama indicated in a phone call earlier that he was interested in pursuing.

 

He also clearly said there is no shut down of the government nor default on the Debt ceiling.

 

Let us hope for action soon and let us not start a new war.

 

Just a thought.