Down...*

Murder...?

Pharmaceutical companies are "getting away with murder," President-elect Donald Trump said during his Wednesday press conference — and the sector didn't get away unscathed.

After Trump mentioned drug prices and pharmaceutical companies' tax inversions, the nine biggest pharmaceutical companies by market cap on the S&P 500 shed roughly $24.6 billion in 20 minutes. That includes the market caps of Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Merck, Amgen, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Celgene, and Eli Lilly.

The Indexes which tracks pharmaceutical stocks, fell nearly 4% in that time. Granted, the loss in market cap for big pharma is small relative to companies' overall market cap of combined $906.8 billion before Trump's speech.

Chemical...?

Secretary of State John Kerry lauded Moscow’s “constructive role” in major diplomatic breakthroughs such as the Syrian ceasefire and Iran nuclear deal. He also had rare compliments for Vladimir Putin.

In a rare acknowledgment of Russia’s input in solving world crises, Kerry admitted that Moscow’s role was actually crucial in saving Syria from complete chaos. [caused perhaps by US allies in the area]
“If they hadn’t played a constructive role, we would not have gotten the chemical weapons out of Syria and they would be in the hands of ISIL [Islamic State / IS], and if they hadn’t played a constructive role, we would not have gotten the cessation of hostilities or everybody at the table in Geneva,” Kerry added.

Putin accused Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of inciting unrest in Russia, as he grappled with the prospect of large-scale political protest for the first time in his more than decade-long rule.

Why undermine Russia, its politics and Economics while they can be helpful?

Broken...?*

The United Nations-backed Libyan government has announced that the U.S. military has begun conducting airstrikes against the Islamic State group at the government's request.

Fayez Serraj, the head of the U.N.-brokered presidency council, said in a televised statement that American warplanes attacked the IS bastion of Sirte, adding that no U.S. ground forces will be deployed.

"The presidency council, as the general army commander, has made a request for direct U.S. support to carry out specific airstrikes," he said. "The first strikes started today in positions in Sirte, causing major casualties."

The strikes mark the start of a more intense American role in the fight against IS in Libya, as the U.S. steps in to assist the fragile, U.N.-backed government there.  [AP]

Haven't we seen the same "movie" before in Iraq and Syria?

Roberry...?

Hope the new administration would do something about the high prices of medication.
.

Here Boy...

.
The way the Media treated Trump was very unsettling all along. Since the start of his campaign, they were all over him, while he accused them of being unfair... among other things..

Then came the finale with the Hill. The Media, sort of, sided with the politician till the last minute.

By the last minute I mean the day of the election. Clearly they were marching and sounding the drums for Hillary. By 8 PM the numbers for Hillary started to slow down.

Since then, the Media can't find an issue to talk about except Trump's tweets.....

It is not over yet.  Just a thought.

Quid Pro...*

Nan Shi filed a complain against Yahoo executive, Maria Zhang, accusing her of coercing Shi into sex, and threatening to fire her. Zhang's defense is that Shi is an underperformer and fabricated the entire story. 

Two types of sexual harassment: "hostile work environment" and "quid pro quo".

Hostile work environment is far more popular in that people often believe their workplace is hostile because their boss is a jerk, or he "has it out for them." But, as the Supreme Court has famously said, discrimination laws are not a "general civility code for the American workplace."

Quid pro quo "this for that" harassment is rarer, but potentially easier to prove. Simply put, a plaintiff must prove that a boss first made unwanted sexual advances or engaged in other unwanted sexual conduct.

The plaintiff must also prove either that job benefits were conditioned on acceptance of those sexual advances or that employment decisions were based on his/her acceptance or rejection of the boss' conduct.

If Shi fabricated the allegations, then that would be a bold and brassy lie. But it wouldn't be unique. Defendants in these cases frequently claim the plaintiff conjured up harassment just to save their job after substandard performance reviews. It becomes a high-stakes chicken-and-egg game: Were the negative reviews a conspiracy to cover up the harassment? Or was the harassment made up to cast doubt on the reports of underperformance? Only time, and a jury, will tell. And they will.

Just a thought.

Mirrors...*

NY police commissioner Ray Kelly declared that striking down the city's "stop and frisk" policy would cost lives. It appears to have been an effective city-wide strategy against murder resulting in a drop of  statistics.

In a decision filed in federal court in Newark, U.S. District Judge William Martini dismissed a lawsuit brought in 2012 by eight Muslims who alleged that the NYPD's surveillance programs were unconstitutional because they focused on religion, national origin and race. 

The judge was not convinced that the plaintiffs were targeted solely because of their religion. 

Bratton adopted a “zero tolerance” policy for petty crimes, and a renewed focus on “quality of life” issues. The theory maintains and monitors urban environments which may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime. He established the controversial CompStat system.

Seems like Kelly and Bratton are similar in so many plicies.
Today I see more cops in the street. Hope the elderly are safer today better than yesterday.  
Just a thought.

Crule III...

History will likely be a cruel judge of the Obama's administration. 

Remember...*

Around the corner I have a friend,
in this great city that has no end.
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,
and before I know it, a year is gone.

And I never see my old friend's face,
for life is swift and a terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well,
as in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine, if we were younger then,
and now we are busy, tired men.
Tired of playing a foolish game,
Tired of trying to make a name.
"Tomorrow" I say," I will call on Jim"... "
Just to show that I'm thinking of him".

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,
and distance between us grows.
Around the corner!- yet miles away,
"here's a telegram sir" "Jim died today".
And that's what we get and deserve in the end.

Around the corner, a vanished friend.
by: Henson Towne.