New York City Marathon

A few days before last year’s New York City Marathon, this 94-year-old race participant insisted to USA TODAY, “This is it – the last hurrah.”
As it turns out, Mendes does not tell the truth. Now, a year after promising his children he would stop this business of taking on the biggest marathon in the world, Mendes will once again be the oldest entrant in the race of 50,000. 

Hadley, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, could be one of the best collegiate distance runners in the country, racing with a team and the backing of an NCAA athletic department. Instead, she runs 120 miles a week in obscurity. She’s been rising at 5:30 a.m. every morning to run 5 miles, the first of two solitary workouts each day, around the campus so she can be back at her dorm by 6:40 a.m. and showered in time for her 8 a.m. writing class.

All this in preparation for the first day of November and the New York City Marathon. For Hadley, Sunday’s marathon isn’t just about competition or ambition. 

50,000 participant in this Marathone and I am proud to say Four Runners are my Co-Worker.

Just a thought.

Ben-Ghazi's Bottom

Hillary Clinton must have been mindful of the old adage that you never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake. She sat in the witness chair with the patience of Job, hour after endless hour, while the House Select Committee on Benghazi did all it could to make her our next president.

How much of a self-defeating travesty was last week’s hearing for the Republican Party? The answer is obvious from how quickly the GOP has sought to turn the page.

Had a glove been laid on the presumptive Democratic nominee, the Sunday talk shows would have been a jamboree of Clinton-bashing. As it was, chief inquisitor Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) could only grumble on “Meet the Press” that Clinton’s testimony lacked “wholeness and completeness,” by which he seemed to mean she failed to make a case against herself. Gowdy also said he regretted that the hearing was held publicly rather than behind closed doors.

Among the Republican presidential contenders, the most deliciously ironic reaction came from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who claimed Clinton was “unaccountable” because she left the Benghazi compound’s security arrangements to be handled by lower-ranking State Department professionals. As “Face the Nation” host John Dickerson pointed out, Christie gave a similar explanation to exonerate himself in the George Washington Bridge.

So please help Hilary to become the next President. Just a thought.

Fires...?

Investigators want to know who sparked fires at six predominantly African-American churches in northern St. Louis over the last two weeks.
Damage from the latest blaze was discovered on the front doors of Ebenezer Lutheran Church on Sunday morning, according to the ATF, which is offering a $2,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the party responsible for the fires.
The previous five blazes were also set at the front doors of churches, said St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson.
                     
The first fire was set on Oct. 8 at Bethel Non-Denominational Church, just off of West Florissant Ave. in Jennings, a city that borders Ferguson. St. Louis County Police Department spokesman Shawn McGuire said the church sustained about $250 in damages.

The next fire was set two days later at New Northside Baptist Church. Subsequent fires were set at St. Augustine Catholic Church; at the New Testament Church of Christ; and at the New Life Missionary Baptist Church, according to the ATF.

Hate for what the church stand for and peaceful people is everywhere. I am sorry for those who committed these crimes. Certainly they don't know what theydoing to themselves and their families as a result of these crimes.

Just a thought.

Valeant Canada

In a chaotic day of trading, once-highflying Valeant Pharmaceuticals defended itself against some of the most severe criticism yet of its business practices, denying allegations of improper accounting from an investor who is betting against the company.  The short-seller’s report knocked Valeant’s stock down wiping some $20 billion from its market value .

The report, from research firm Citron Research, fanned concerns about Valeant’s accounting, raising questions about its use of certain pharmacies to supply its drugs and its accounting for the dispensing. Valeant “categorically” denied the report.

Doubts about the sustainability of the approach, long harbored by hedge funds that made and lost bets against the company, came into the open after Valeant sought to make its biggest deal yet last year with a hostile offer for Botox maker Allergan. In fighting back, Allergan’s then-CEO David Pyott campaigned against Valeant’s accounting practices and said its aversion to research threatened its ability to find new growth sources.

Valeant said last week it had received subpoenas from federal prosecutors asking about its drug pricing and patient-assistance programs.
The company said it would change its approach, spending more on R&D and focusing more on reducing its debt than on dealmaking. Shares fell nearly 8% that day.

When you charge patients and government the highest prices ever it is ok, but when you screw up with hedge Fund, you go down.  Just a thought.

Underwear.. SNL

 

Package...

Retired basketball star Lamar Odom, remained unresponsive in a Las Vegas hospital after he was found unconscious at the Love Ranch this week, , the brothel's owner told NBC News.

Odom used a credit card to take care of the five-day package, [$75,000] Love Ranch owner Dennis Hof said included sex and activities like cooking, watching TV together and going out to dinner a deal commonly called the "girlfriend experience."

He has been visited by his wife, Khloé, the reality TV star, and former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant.

While Odom and Khloe widely reported to have filed for divorce in December 2013, California court records show that the divorce still hasn't been finalized.

Odom’s playing career has granted him a net worth of $56 million, according to TheRichest.com. But his off-the-court struggles limited his career, and past run-ins with law enforcement damaged his marketability.

A sad story.   Just a thought.

Rip-off..?

Valeant Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to a pair of life-saving heart drugs. The same day, their list prices rose by 525% and 212%.
Neither of the drugs, Nitropress or Isuprel, was improved as a result of costly investment in lab work and human testing, Valeant said. Nor was manufacture of the medicines shifted to an expensive new plant. The big change: the drugs’ ownership.

More pharmaceutical companies are buying drugs that they see as undervalued, then raising the prices. It is one of a number of industry tactics, along with companies regularly upping the prices of their own older medicines and launching new treatments at once unheard of sums, driving up the cost of drugs.

Valiant received subpoenas from federal prosecutors seeking information related to how it prices drugs, distributes them and helps patients afford the medicines.
The subpoenas also seek information and documents from the Canada-based drug company regarding information it provided to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

This is a Rip-off plan by all means. Prices are over the top. The big one buy the little and off they go. Request Tax reduction for business competitiveness and then create a fictitious domicile in Ireland or so.

The market must have competition in the pharmaceuticals area.   Just a thought.

Boldness...

The attorney general’s office is looking at whether Turing may have violated antitrust rules by restricting distribution of the drug, Daraprim, as a way to thwart generic competition, according to a letter sent by the attorney general’s office to Turing.

“While competition might ordinarily be expected to deter such a massive price increase, it appears that Turing may have taken steps to prevent that competition from arising,” said the letter.

Turing, based in Manhattan, acquired the rights to Daraprim in August and raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, drawing protests from infectious disease specialists. The drug is the preferred treatment for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that can be especially dangerous for people with AIDS and for babies whose mothers are infected during pregnancy.

Big Pharma has Patent protection, Free pricing of its medication, protection against private importation from Canada, England, etc...and the ability to deter competition by other pharmaceutical generics.

Medications are the life line of health.  The market is Stacked against the sick, the seniors and patients in general. Need some action here.     Just a thought.

Guns...

Authorities say a loner 26 year old, went on a rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, killing nine people in a writing class where he was enrolled and wounding seven others. Witnesses said the gunman specifically targeted Christians.
Officers responded immediately to a report of shots being fired on the campus. Two officers with the Roseburg police department arrived within five minutes and were joined by a Oregon state trooper.

Mercer’s family issued a brief statement, saying “we are shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific events.” “Our thoughts, our hearts and our prayers go out to all of the families of those who died and were injured,” their statement said.

The recovered weapon brought to 14 the total number of guns Mercer had left behind after the shooting. Six of those guns were in Mercer's possession at the college, along with a flak jacket and five magazines of ammunition. The other weapons were found in his apartment.

Blame the National Rifle Association is not going to help that much.

This man had 14 gun, each cost around $1000. It is a culture, when someone get a gun as a gift from a family member for graduation, etc.. and when a family mother and son, etc goes to shoot guns. In addition people lives in a rural area and need to protect themselves and the safety of having a gun.

Mental health is an issue, but the families got to do something about it. Just a thought.

Chaos...?

Boehner is holding back tears.

For House Speaker John Boehner, every second of this historic day was special, personally thrilling, politically significant, spiritually fulfilling, and most of all, emotionally overwhelming.
“What a day,” Boehner said, at the end of the first-ever papal address to a joint session of Congress. “What a moment for our country.  … The Holy Father’s visit is surely a blessing for all of us.”

John Boehner announced on Friday, after the pope's visit, that he will resign his position and give up his House seat in October.

House Republicans scrambled Friday to find a suitable alternative to be their next leader, a day after the presumed favorite for the post, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, abruptly dropped his bid for speaker, throwing the caucus and the party into chaos.

Pressure has mounted on Paul Ryan, the popular young Wisconsinite who was his party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, to heed the call of many of his colleagues, who say he is best suited to mend the fractious divisions within the conference that led to the ouster of Speaker John Boehner and the fall of McCarthy.

On the other side of it, the front runners in the Republican Party's Presidential run are Non Politician.  Donald Trump, Ben Carson and  Fiorina.

So what's happening in the Republican Party?

Theft of Toyota.

Toyota Hilux pickups, similar to Toyota Land Cruisers, have become fixtures in videos of the ISIS campaign in Iraq, Syria and Libya, with their truck beds loaded with heavy weapons and cabs jammed with terrorists.

A report by the radio broadcaster Public Radio International noted that the U.S. State Department delivered 43 Toyota trucks to Syrian rebels. A more recent report in an Australian newspaper said that more than 800 of the trucks had been reported missing in Sydney between 2014 and 2015, and quoted terror experts speculating that they may have been exported to ISIS territory.

Toyota’s own figures show sales of Hilux and Land Cruisers tripling from 6,000 sold in Iraq in 2011 to 18,000 sold in 2013, before sales dropped back to 13,000 in 2014.

An Iraqi military spokesman, told ABC News he suspects that middlemen from outside Iraq have been smuggling the trucks into his country.

The former owners, a Saudi company, said it “made the decision to cease all trading activities in the country and fully divested the business in October, 2012,” according to a spokesperson.

The Counter Extremism Project wrote directly to Toyota to urge the company to do more to track the flow of trucks to ISIS, and noted that the trucks are Stamped with Taceable Identification numbers. Some think it may be donated By US to the moderate rebels in Syria.

So who is helping ISIS and the opposition?.... . Every Body and I mean EVERYBODY.  Just a thought. 

As we make it...

A respected Long Island doctor and mother of three who went out partying with her girlfriends in the city was found dead in the doorway of a Chelsea apartment building.

Kiersten Cerveny graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and received her medical degree from Tulane University.

She met friends at a hotel at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night,  was out until 2:30 a.m. with her friends, using alcohol and cocaine, according to police sources.

The group went to a bar on New York City's Lower East Side, where Cerveny met a man with whom she was Facebook friends.

Cerveny and the man left the bar between 3 a.m.., taking a cab to an apartment building in Chelsea.

Cerveny was found in the apartment building lobby around 8:30 a.m. Sunday and was declared dead at Lenox Health Greenwich Village, police said.

One of the men she was out with had called 911, disappeared and called 911 again to check on Cerveny's status, police said.  A sad story.

Dilemma in Syria

Russian warplanes began airstrikes in Syria, adding an unpredictable new element to a four-year-old war that has already drawn in the United States and allies, fueled a refu­gee crisis and expanded the reach of the Islamic State.

U.S. officials said the strikes appeared to target opponents of Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad, a key Russian ally. Those hit include U.S.-backed units that were trained and armed by the CIA, officials said.

So here is Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, USA, Europe, Russia, and Egypt wants ISIS destroyed.

While Saudis, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey, USA, Europe, and Egypt wants Assad out.

The Russian got the right idea. Any terrorist is simply a terrorist. They merge , branch, and elegate. So let the Russian plan work. They have Air force and ground force of the Assad.

That is the key.   Just a thought.

Chicken Place.

Chick-fil-A’s debut in the Big Apple drew people willing to wait as long as 30 minutes in line, quizzical looks from others who didn’t get the hoopla over a fried chicken joint.
“It’s a monumental day,” an excited Jaimie Crawford, a New York transplant from South Carolina, said as she waited patiently in a line that snaked out the door and down the block. “It’s a little taste of home far away.”

The opening had the feel of a festival, with fans taking selfies with a costumed mascot cow or talking frantically to friends on the phone about the opening. Tourists posed in front of the store at the corner of 6th Avenue and 37th Street.

Chick-fil-A spokeswoman issued a statement, saying, “We are aware of the demonstrations. Grand opening day activities will continue as planned. We are excited about serving customers great food with remarkable service.”

Collectively Free accused the Atlanta-based chain of ignoring the rights of chickens and of hypocrisy over comments CEO Dan Cathy made three years ago opposing gay marriage.
“They pick and choose how Christian to be,” 

It is a chicken place.       Just a thought.

Stock Market Direction?

United States domestic oil production has nearly doubled over the last six years, pushing out oil imports. Saudi, Nigerian and Algerian oil is suddenly competing for Asian markets, and the producers are forced to drop prices. 

Earnings are down for oil companies that have made record profits in recent years, leading them to decommission rigs and sharply cut investments in exploration and production. 

On the demand side, the economies of Europe and developing countries are weakening and vehicles are becoming more energy-efficient. So demand for fuel is lagging a bit. China's recent devaluation of its currency suggests the economy of the world's biggest oil importer may be worse off than expected.

Oil producer Countries such as Saudi, Kuwait, Nigeria, Iran, Libya, Venezuela, Canada are loosing 60% of oil income. Thus reducing their expenditure. China is slowing down.

US dollars appreciated world wide by 38% which cause all US multi national companies to have difficulties in their earnings and exports.

Europe is in much difficulties as GDP is below 1% and the Quantitative easing is just beginning.

You conclude.          Just a thought.