Random Comments (RH)

[Purplelady1040]

I like cats but dogs are my favorite next to horses.

[The Troll]

  I sure loved my dogs.  We went walking, we went for rides, we went hunting and fishing    We were great buddies.  But now I am older and retired I can't do all of those things and the wife and me, we like to leave the house for a day or two.  Having a dog is like have a small child and you can't just go off and leave them.

  But now I got my cat  and he is my buddy and lover.  We can set up the house for him.  Leaving extra food, water and toilet seat up for extra water and he gets along just fine for a day or two.  Also there are no mice or bugs on the floor that he won't get.   

[AbbyTC]

Inky the Octopus escapes!  I didn't know octopi were as inquisitive as what this article suggests.  http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/12/world/escapologist-octopus-new-zealand-aquarium/ 

But then I never really studied octopi before. 

[Locutus]

The video of the octopus catching the crab in that article is pretty cool. 

[Locutus]

This is an interesting read about Big Pharma and what they're really all about.  Not that this comes as a surprise to some of us here.

~~~~~~

Last month, Martin Shkreli became a household name. The CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals is now infamous for raising the price of a newly-acquired drug to $750 a pill. He also explained in an interview that his company was not alone in acquiring drugs currently on the market to raise their price and, in turn, rapidly drive up their stock price.

Enter J. Michael Pearson,  The current CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals who recently said that his company's responsibility is to its shareholders, while making no mention of his customers who rely on his drugs to live.

    "If products are sort of mispriced and there's an opportunity, we will act appropriately in terms of doing what I assume our shareholders would like us to do."

Already this year, Valeant has increased the price of 56 of the drugs in its portfolio an average of 66 percent, highlighted by their recent acquisition, Zegerid, which they promptly raised 550 percent. Not only does this have the unfortunate side effect of placing the price of life-saving drugs out of reach for even moderately-insured people, but it has now begun to call into question the sustainability of this rapidly-spreading business model.

In an interview with CNBC, Pearson defended his business practice of acquiring drugs instead of investing in research and development.

    "My primary responsibility is to Valeant shareholders. We can do anything we want to do. We will continue to make acquisitions, we will continue to move forward."

Since being named CEO in 2008, Valeant has acquired more than 100 drugs and seen their stock price rise more than 1,000 percent with Pearson at the helm. But it appears that all of the public backlash over price gouging of prescription drugs, which has included both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders taking a stance against the practice as a platform in their respective presidential campaigns, has placed the practice under tremendous scrutiny.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is planning to issue a subpoena for information on recent price increases from both Pearson and Shkreli.

And that pending investigation has sent Valeant's stock price tumbling more than 27 percent in the last month, which may have shareholders concerned enough to wonder if Pearson pushed too hard for too long.

http://usuncut.com/class-war/valeant-ceo-shareholder-profit/

[AbbyTC]

This is an interesting read about Big Pharma and what they're really all about.  Not that this comes as a surprise to some of us here.

~~~~~~

Last month, Martin Shkreli became a household name. The CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals is now infamous for raising the price of a newly-acquired drug to $750 a pill. He also explained in an interview that his company was not alone in acquiring drugs currently on the market to raise their price and, in turn, rapidly drive up their stock price.

Enter J. Michael Pearson,  The current CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals who recently said that his company's responsibility is to its shareholders, while making no mention of his customers who rely on his drugs to live.

    "If products are sort of mispriced and there's an opportunity, we will act appropriately in terms of doing what I assume our shareholders would like us to do."

Already this year, Valeant has increased the price of 56 of the drugs in its portfolio an average of 66 percent, highlighted by their recent acquisition, Zegerid, which they promptly raised 550 percent. Not only does this have the unfortunate side effect of placing the price of life-saving drugs out of reach for even moderately-insured people, but it has now begun to call into question the sustainability of this rapidly-spreading business model.

In an interview with CNBC, Pearson defended his business practice of acquiring drugs instead of investing in research and development.

    "My primary responsibility is to Valeant shareholders. We can do anything we want to do. We will continue to make acquisitions, we will continue to move forward."

Since being named CEO in 2008, Valeant has acquired more than 100 drugs and seen their stock price rise more than 1,000 percent with Pearson at the helm. But it appears that all of the public backlash over price gouging of prescription drugs, which has included both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders taking a stance against the practice as a platform in their respective presidential campaigns, has placed the practice under tremendous scrutiny.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is planning to issue a subpoena for information on recent price increases from both Pearson and Shkreli.

And that pending investigation has sent Valeant's stock price tumbling more than 27 percent in the last month, which may have shareholders concerned enough to wonder if Pearson pushed too hard for too long.

http://usuncut.com/class-war/valeant-ceo-shareholder-profit/

Wow.  All for the almighty dollar.  Just think of how many people could be helped if they lowered their price and weren't such pigs.  I understand  wanting to make a profit, but that is ridiculous.  When my uncle was battling cancer (he died because of it) they gave him a shot that cost around $500 and that was over 20 years ago. 

[libby]

What if we end up with Donald Trump vs. Bernie Sanders as our choices for POTUS?   I haven't been keeping up with the delegate counts, but those crowds   

[Anne]

A sad, scary day for our country if that happens,IMO.

[The Troll]

A sad, scary day for our country if that happens,IMO.

  You Republicans never think or learn.   

[Palehorse]

The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend as to find a friend worth dying for. ~ Homer (c. 8th Century B.C.E.)

[libby]

The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend as to find a friend worth dying for. ~ Homer (c. 8th Century B.C.E.)

Hmmm ... that made me stop and think.

[libby]

Did anybody but me stay up last night and watch the New York primaries?  I watched the MSNBC bunch until the precincts closed and Trump was declared the Republican presumptive winner; and, the Democratic one was too close to call.  I thought that meant Hillary Clinton might not make it, so turned off the TV and went to bed.  Imagine my surprise this morning when I heard on Morning Joe that she was way ahead of Bernie. 

Now they're talkin' about Indiana! Are we going to see any of you guys in the crowds?   

[Palehorse]

Did anybody but me stay up last night and watch the New York primaries?  I watched the MSNBC bunch until the precincts closed and Trump was declared the Republican presumptive winner; and, the Democratic one was too close to call.  I thought that meant Hillary Clinton might not make it, so turned off the TV and went to bed.  Imagine my surprise this morning when I heard on Morning Joe that she was way ahead of Bernie. 

Now they're talkin' about Indiana! Are we going to see any of you guys in the crowds?   

I will avoid the cameras like the plague. . . But you can bet your sweet bippie I'll be at the polling place. . . Not that I have very high expectations over which way this state will go. . . It is chock full of sheep! 

[Anne]

I will vote but I did not make any effort to go see any of the candidates who will be showing up in Indiana the next week or so.

[libby]

It's stunning to think that Donald Trump might be our next POTUS.    Money talks. And there are a lot of retired still fairly young professionals, military and civilian; like Chris Christie and the holier than thou Ben Carson, they might be persuaded to join the team of Trump advisers.