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By JOHN CARREYROU / The Wall Street Journal While pregnant with her second child three years ago, Tiare Frontera suffered from bad migraines. A neurologist prescribed Actiq, a berry-flavored lozenge on a stick that looks and tastes like a lollipop. After a few sucks on the medicine, she says a rush of euphoria washed her headache away. Soon, Mrs. Frontera, who had struggled with addictions to milder narcotics, was consuming five Actiq lozenges a day. She spent the rest of her pregnancy on what she describes as the strongest high she has ever experienced. When she gave birth, her baby son was cranky and wouldn’t sleep. Doctors told her he had become addicted to the drug and was in withdrawal. Mrs. Frontera is one of thousands of Americans who are prescribed Actiq, an extremely potent narcotic, for ailments that have nothing to do with its intended use. The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug eight years ago for use only in cancer patients who suffer intense bouts of pain that other narcotics don’t relieve. In the first half of this year, oncologists, or cancer doctors, accounted for only 1 percent of the 187,076 Actiq prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies in the U.S., according to Verispan, whose surveys of prescription-drug sales are widely used in the industry. Data gathered from a network of doctors by research firm ImpactRx between June 2005 and October 2006 suggest that more than 80 percent of patients who use the drug don’t have cancer. Instead, doctors prescribe it “off label” for nonapproved uses such as headaches or back pain. Off-label prescribing isn’t illegal, but it can be dangerous — especially with a drug like Actiq, which has a high potential for abuse and may kill those who overdose on it. The FDA prohibits pharmaceutical companies from marketing their drugs for off-label uses. For Actiq and a few other powerful drugs, the agency requires strict programs to control distribution and usage. Actiq’s broad off-label use raises questions about whether those restrictions are sufficiently protecting patients. “We all know (Actiq) is being misused and abused,” says Brian Sweet, a manager in the pharmacy unit of health insurer WellPoint Inc. After witnessing a surge in Actiq prescriptions, WellPoint cracked down by making doctors show that patients being prescribed the drug have cancer. Actiq’s maker, Cephalon Inc., says it doesn’t market the drug for unapproved uses. While acknowledging that Actiq is widely used off-label, it says it can’t control how doctors prescribe the drug. Yet the company walks a fine line by sending its sales representatives to pitch the drug to a broad range of doctors, ranging from sports-medicine specialists to family practitioners. It gives these doctors coupons for free samples. Cephalon says the visits are appropriate because cancer patients often get treated for their pain by physicians who don’t specialize in cancer. Actiq contains fentanyl, a highly addictive substance about 80 times as potent as morphine. Fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration, which puts it in the same category as opium, cocaine, methamphetamine and methadone. Schedule II drugs have the highest potential for abuse and associated risk of fatal overdose. Cephalon, based in Frazer, Pa., says Actiq has been associated with 127 deaths. Two of them involved children who confused the drug for candy. Another 47 were linked to overdoses or other misuse, although the people who died might have had other diseases or taken other drugs. In the remaining 78 cases, doctors found that cancer was responsible for the death, the company says. Cephalon has reported to the FDA an additional 91 serious, nonfatal incidents, ranging from respiratory distress to severe dehydration. The U.S. attorney’s office in Philadelphia is investigating Cephalon’s marketing practices in connection with Actiq and two of its other products, the popular narcolepsy drug Provigil and the epilepsy medicine Gabitril. No charges have been filed. Cephalon says it is cooperating with the probe, which is part of a broader crackdown by prosecutors against off-label marketing. In August, the Justice Department fined Schering-Plough Corp. $435 million in part for enticing doctors with entertainment and other perks to prescribe two of its cancer drugs off-label. Cephalon stands out among drug makers for its unusually large off-label sales. Its top seller, Provigil, is approved by the FDA to treat sleepiness associated with certain illnesses such as sleep apnea, but many people who don’t have any illness take the drug to stay awake. Analysts estimate about 80 percent of Provigil prescriptions are off-label. Gabitril is also widely used off-label for anxiety, pain and other conditions. Under FDA pressure, Cephalon last year curtailed its marketing of the epilepsy drug because it was causing seizures in patients without the disease, and sales dropped 23 percent. Founded in 1987 by a former DuPont Co. scientist named Frank Baldino Jr., Cephalon expects revenue to exceed $1.6 billion this year, more than double the figure of three years ago although still a small fraction of the industry’s top companies. Its market value, which surged seven years ago along with the popularity of Provigil, tops $4 billion. Dr. Baldino earned $2.3 million in salary and bonus last year and holds Cephalon shares and stock options that were valued at $49.6 million as of the end of last year. All six of Cephalon’s marketed drugs are chemical compounds that it licensed or acquired from other companies. Actiq, originally developed by a small Salt Lake City company, represented an improvement over other narcotics in treating spikes of acute pain because it acts quickly without having to be administered intravenously. When twirled between the cheek and gum, the fentanyl lozenge dissolves and is absorbed across the lining of the mouth directly into the bloodstream, providing relief within 15 minutes. Actiq had sales of $15 million in 2000, when Cephalon acquired it. By last year, sales had grown to $412 million, making it Cephalon’s No. 2 drug. In the first nine months of this year, sales jumped to $471 million. Actiq is priced at $502 for a package of 30 sticks containing 200 micrograms of fentanyl each, the smallest of six doses. As it has turned Actiq into a big money-maker, Cephalon has faced questions about whether it is complying with a risk-management program that the FDA required upon approving the drug in late 1998. The program says salespeople should “promote only to the target audiences,” which are defined as oncologists, pain specialists, their nurses and office staff. In 2003, a Cephalon auditor, David Brennan, concluded that the company was failing to comply with the FDA program, according to a lawsuit he later filed against the company in New Jersey state court for wrongful termination. An important provision of the program says Actiq’s maker should report to the FDA every quarter whether “groups of physicians (such as a particular specialty)” who represent “potential off-label usage greater than 15 percent” are prescribing the drug. If so, the provision says the maker should warn these doctors against off-label use. Mr. Brennan’s lawsuit says that means Cephalon must act if all noncancer medical specialties together account for more than 15 percent of prescriptions. Cephalon interprets the provision differently. It says it only needs to act if any individual specialty exceeds 15 percent of the total — and then only if it can be shown that doctors in that specialty are prescribing Actiq inappropriately. Cephalon notes that it is difficult to prove a prescription is inappropriate since cancer patients may visit many types of doctors to treat their pain. It believes the 15 percent clause has yet to be triggered. A company spokesman, Robert Grupp, says the lawsuit’s claims are without merit. The FDA declined to comment. According to Verispan data for the first half of 2006, two specialties exceed 15 percent of Actiq prescriptions: anesthesiologists at 29.5 percent and physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists at 16 percent. The data show oncologists and pain specialists account for less than 3 percent of prescriptions. Cephalon doesn’t dispute the data. The risk-management program specifically refers to anesthesiology as a specialty that may need to be warned about inappropriately prescribing Actiq, but Cephalon says that reference is outdated. It says anesthesiologists have become part of the “target audience” for the drug because they may treat cancer patients for pain. Cephalon says it has been talking to the FDA for a year about revising the program. After Mr. Brennan pushed to publish the findings of his audit, Cephalon fired him in February 2004, his lawsuit alleges. Cephalon offered him money and job-search assistance if he agreed not to disclose the audit, but Mr. Brennan refused, the suit says. Mr. Grupp declined to discuss Mr. Brennan’s dismissal but noted that he is “a former disgruntled employee.” Mr. Brennan has been interviewed twice by investigators working for the U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, most recently in May, according to a person familiar with the matter. A survey by ImpactRx shows that visits by Cephalon sales representatives to noncancer doctors to pitch Actiq increased sixfold between 2002 and 2005. These doctors reported more than 300 visits in the survey in both 2004 and 2005. Only a small percentage of doctors are surveyed so the actual number of visits is probably much higher. Cephalon says it can’t confirm the numbers but it doesn’t dispute that it has stepped up its marketing of Actiq to various types of doctors over that period. Stephen Leighton, a general practitioner in Winston-Salem, N.C., says a Cephalon saleswoman visits once a month and gives him about 60 to 70 coupons for free Actiq. Patients can trade each coupon for six Actiq sticks. Dr. Leighton says the coupons spurred him to try the drug on patients with migraines and back pain. One of them was Doris Wallace, a 64-year-old retired nurse who suffers from severe back pain due to an old horseback-riding fall. Ms. Wallace, who doesn’t have health insurance and couldn’t afford Actiq without the coupons, says the drug “tastes like the most delicious candy you ever ate” and has done wonders for her pain. At the height of her use, she was consuming 24 Actiq sticks a month. The positive experience of patients like Ms. Wallace has led Dr. Leighton to prescribe Actiq more widely for different types of pain. Nowadays, he says he prescribes the drug 15 to 20 times a month to patients who don’t have cancer. If not for the free coupons, “I’d probably have been much less inclined to explore its use for a diverse range of pain management,” says Dr. Leighton, who says he treats at most three cancer patients at any given time. Dr. Leighton says he thinks the FDA-approved usage of Actiq is too narrow. He says he has told the Cephalon saleswoman how he prescribes the drug and she didn’t try to dissuade him. Mr. Grupp of Cephalon says Dr. Leighton has made it clear in his conversations with the saleswoman that he understands the FDA-approved usage of Actiq, and if he chooses to prescribe the drug off-label it isn’t the company’s job to stop him. Mr. Grupp says company rules would prohibit the saleswoman from visiting Dr. Leighton only if he never prescribed the drug for cancer pain. “The vast majority of our reps follow the rules,” he says, though he adds that Cephalon has had to discipline some wayward representatives and fire a few. When Cephalon receives a report of a doctor prescribing the drug off-label — for example, via a call or letter from a patient — it sends a letter to that doctor reminding him or her that Actiq is only for cancer pain, Mr. Grupp says. The company has sent more than 3,300 such letters, he says. Earlier this year, Dr. Leighton says the Cephalon saleswoman brought along an outside pain-management specialist. Over lunch, Dr. Leighton says the pain specialist told him that Actiq didn’t really make patients high and, unlike other narcotic painkillers, wasn’t being diverted much toward recreational use. Cephalon declined to comment on the conversation. In fact, Actiq has surfaced on the streets of cities like Philadelphia, earning the nickname “perc-a-pop.” Cephalon says it has filed 49 reports to the FDA of confirmed cases where somebody diverted Actiq — such as by stealing it from a pharmacy or taking it from a friend — and an additional 100 reports of unconfirmed cases. Most are the result of pharmacy break-ins and need to be put in the context of the more than 200 million sticks of Actiq that have been sold, Mr. Grupp says. Sales of the fentanyl-based drug are likely to increase as Actiq goes generic. In late September, Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc. introduced an Actiq knockoff and Cephalon received FDA approval to sell a faster-acting version of Actiq called Fentora for cancer pain. Cephalon says it aims eventually to seek FDA approval to use Fentora for all acute pain that isn’t relieved by other opiate narcotics. Mrs. Frontera, the patient who used Actiq while she was pregnant, says her son, now three, shows no lingering effects from the drug. Mrs. Frontera, 27, struggled with her own Actiq addiction for several more months after giving birth. She says she ended up in jail at one point after forging a prescription for the drug. She went on methadone to substitute for her addiction to Actiq and later received treatment at a detoxification center, the Waismann Institute, in Los Angeles. Now she lives in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “It makes me angry that it was prescribed to me,” she says of Actiq. “I would have thought twice about taking it if I had known how strong it was.” Philip Delio, the neurologist who prescribed Actiq to Mrs. Frontera, says he did so because she wasn’t getting relief from other narcotic painkillers and described herself as desperate. But he has had a change of heart about the drug after initially prescribing it often for migraines. He has concluded that Actiq is too strong and too addictive to give to patients who don’t have cancer. Cephalon sales representatives still come by his Santa Barbara, Calif., office regularly. But Dr. Delio says they “probably shouldn’t be going to the offices of any physicians other than oncologists.” Sphere: Related Content Cheap Generic Viagra

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Mike Aguirre was definition the truth largely onward. Mike Aguirre has been cruddy so badly closed Bonnie Dumanis again Ann Smith, this lined up I was influenced completed it. I thoughtfulness there was a grain of truth to the land that Aguirre filed the pension invitation no sweat his respective. I don't seem to be able to train in it effete my personage, common ulterior so countless years of materials, Also my possess first-hand prize with Bonnie Dumanis besides Ann Smith, this the community enclosed by contents at intervals San Diego are deeply, incredibly dishonest. Here's what Pat Flannery wrote throughout that. The truth is out: Peters lied. 02/28/08 over Pat Flannery Browse here due to definite article. Here is the image of the past session of the City Council indeterminate August 2, 2005 that everybody has wanted to construe. Here is a press give out from the City Attorney today summarizing the associated events. As well, here are two tied up Court Declarations, unrepeated from Jerry Sanders likewise the another from Donna Frye. Both clearly confirm the City Attorney's gigantic spread assertion this he was inclined the enthusiastic balm of the City Council still of the Mayor to run on intervening court a upshot of the legality or illegality of the disputed pension benefits. Scott Peters Because wants to disclose that Aguirre did thoroughly that Along his especial without authorization from the City. Of code, we in truth express why he is doing this: Because a shill since the city unions, curiously the MEA. Peters tried to smear the City Attorney now doing his travail. Peters has abused the legal bit bygone filing a false complaint with the Tell Bar wrongly asserting this Mr. Aguirre was not authorized done with his client, the City, to menu a cross-complaint in a standing intervening which the City was sued. Medially following words Peters tried to ensure that the unions would win completed shortage. Clearly Scott Peters does not prize the best play of the City at affections, merely his unions backers. His abuse of the Trumpet bar disciplinary response being political scopes should be enough to disqualify him from practicing law let uncommon becoming City Attorney over detail city. Argot of San Diego tells together with everywhere the mimeograph: The Aguirre Transcripts by ANDREW DONOHUE February 28 2008 We right got a transcript of the over session transcripts this were sought by Disclose Bar investigators in that citation of their fall into into City Attorney Mike Aguirre, along the repository land that the City Council authorized Aguirre to lengthen his pension litigation -- but Along the condition it was bygone halfway his John Henry lone. Halfway the Aug. 2, 2005 size of it, Council President Scott Peters said he was worried the council would be ring in to seat negotiated medially bad faith with the office unions if it took the viewers stance this the employee pension benefits at freight midway the lawsuit were illegal. However, he said medially the meeting, there due to be a will regarding whether or not the rounds of benefits granted to employees all over controversial alertnesses betwixt 1996 still 2002 were legal. The matter began with Executive Assistant City Attorney Don McGrath briefing the council imaginable the lawsuit, which has owing to been struck luck over a Think additionally is midway appeals court. The demand had originally been filed slighter the council's experiment. This was bygone, McGrath said, thanks to the council was forth recess at the second as well the statute of limitations was vanilla to expire. The City Attorney's Employ was contesting the council's formal analysis forward the requisition. Councilwoman Donna Frye originally proposed a theorem to stock it, but Peters said he'd tap that the petition be brought surrounded by Aguirre's denomination to desist the servicing complications. The council eventually established Peters' essence over a vote of 5-1. Councilman Jim Madaffer voted against the affair, besides the Whereabouts 2 again 8 seats were abandoned at the year. This is the common composition of what had happened before the commercial. It may not expect regularly. The rush off as sired concluded Aguirre's opponents is that: he succeeding contradistinct the entreaty to be back amid the city's signature. \"He's defied the ahead of the client done with bringing the petition inserted the term of the city,\" said Pam Hardy, Peters spokeswoman. Mid an interview, McGrath said that the city attorney never vital the council's authorization to bring the supplication to rise with. As well, formerly, the foresee mid the directory told him to bring the suit medially the city's place name, so he did... http://Internet.voiceofsandiego.org/that_proper_among/ Cheap Generic Viagra

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 4, 2005 4:49 PM CONTACT: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) 212-633-6700 fair@frair.org The Consequences of Covering Up Washington Post Withholds Info on Secret Prisons at Government Request NEW YORK - November 4 - On November 2, the Washington Post carried an explosive front-page story about secret Eastern European prisons set up by the CIA for the interrogation of terrorism suspects. While the Post article, by reporter Dana Priest, gave readers plenty of details, it also withheld the most crucial information--the location of these secret prisons--at the request of government officials. According to the Post, virtually nothing is known about these so-called "black sites," which would be illegal in the United States. Given the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, news that the U.S. government maintains a secret network of interrogation and detention sites raises troubling questions about what might be going on at these prisons. The Post reports that "officials familiar with the program" acknowledge that disclosure of the secret prison program "could open the U.S. government to legal challenges, particularly in foreign courts, and increase the risk of political condemnation at home and abroad." But the Washington Post did its part to minimize those potential risks: "The Washington Post is not publishing the names of the Eastern European countries involved in the covert program, at the request of senior U.S. officials. They argued that the disclosure might disrupt counterterrorism efforts in those countries and elsewhere and could make them targets of possible terrorist retaliation." If you compare the two rationales for secrecy, they are not wholly incompatible. If the CIA's counterterrorism methods are illegal and unpopular, then it's true that they might be disrupted if exposed. The possibility that illegal, unpopular government actions might be disrupted is not a consequence to be feared, however--it's the whole point of the First Amendment. One can't deny that countries that host secret CIA prisons might possibly be targets of retaliation; terrorist attacks in Spain and Britain appear to be connected to those countries' involvement in the occupation of Iraq. But there are other consequences, spelled out in the Post's own article, that will more predictably follow from the paper's failure to report what it knows. Without the basic fact of where these prisons are, it's difficult if not impossible for "legal challenges" or "political condemnation" to force them to close. As the Post notes, there has been "widespread prisoner abuse" in U.S. military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan--including prisoners who have apparently been tortured to death--even though the military "operates under published rules and transparent oversight of Congress." Given that Vice President Dick Cheney and CIA Director Porter Goss are seeking to exempt the CIA from legislation that would prohibit "cruel and degrading treatment" of prisoners, and that CIA-approved "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" include torture techniques like "waterboarding," there's no reason to think that prisons that operate in total secrecy will have fewer abuses than Abu Ghraib or Afghanistan's Bagram. Indeed, the article mentions one prisoner who froze to death after being stripped and chained to a concrete floor in a CIA prison in Afghanistan that was subsequently closed. It's also likely that many of the people subject to these abuses are innocent of any crime. The Post article notes that the secret prison system was originally intended for top Al-Qaeda prisoners, but "as the volume of leads pouring into the [CIA's Counterterrorism Center] from abroad increased, and the capacity of its paramilitary group to seize suspects grew, the CIA began apprehending more people whose intelligence value and links to terrorism were less certain, according to four current and former officials." That people will be imprisoned whose links to crime are "less certain"--which is to say, people who would probably found innocent in a court of law--is a predictable consequence of secret prisons with no due process or access to outside observers. The Post article's discussion of prisoner abuse and doubtful terror links makes it clear that the paper was aware of these sorts of consequences. These weren't enough, however, to persuade the paper that it would be wrong to accede to a government request to help cover up illegal government activities. (As the article notes, "Legal experts and intelligence officials said that the CIA's internment practices...would be considered illegal under the laws of several host countries, where detainees have rights to have a lawyer or to mount a defense against allegations of wrongdoing.") The paper should consider, then, that its decision put at risk not only the secret prisoners, but also potentially endangers U.S. soldiers and civilians. As a Newsday investigation concluded (10/31/05), "the United States is detaining enough innocent Afghans in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda that it is seriously undermining popular support for its presence in Afghanistan." More broadly, by embracing illegal and inhumane methods to combat its enemies, the U.S. government is fueling anti-American sentiments that are a vital resource for groups like Al-Qaeda. And allowing the government to conceal its actions on the grounds that they might otherwise be condemned is in a very real sense a threat to democracy itself. The Post's decision has struck some experts as enormously significant. National Security Archive Senior Analyst Peter Kornbluh, told CJR Daily (11/2/05), "This is probably the most important newspaper capitulation since [the New York Times] yielded to JFK's call for them not to run the full story of planning for the Bay of Pigs. By withholding the country names, the Post is directly enabling the rendition, secret detention, and torture of prisoners at these locations to continue. That is a ghastly responsibility." But the Post is not the only U.S. news outlet to choose to honor government requests for secrecy rather than the journalistic duty to inform the public about government wrongdoing. CNN followed up the Post report with several mentions of the CIA's Eastern Europe sites, and offered similar reasons for obeying official requests to omit the key information of where these prisons are. CNN reporter David Ensor said (11/2/05), "U.S. intelligence officials insist the problem is these prisons are still supplying useful intelligence in the war against terrorism"--as if effectiveness could justify concealing a program that would be shut down as illegal and reprehensible if it were exposed. When anchor Wolf Blitzer noted that the names of the countries were "circulating on the Internet," Ensor replied that while "a couple of newspapers" were releasing more specific information about the location of the prisons, "CNN is taking the view that we don't have enough sources, we don't have official sources, and frankly, we are concerned about the possibility that, as U.S. officials have said to us, lives could be as stake." Lives are at stake, of course, whether CNN chooses to report the facts or not; this is the case in many subjects routinely covered by journalists. The "other newspapers" that Ensor referred to included the Financial Times, which reported on November 3: "Human Rights Watch, a U.S. lobby group, on Wednesday said there was strong evidence--including the flight records of CIA aircraft transporting prisoners out of Afghanistan--that Poland and Romania were among countries allowing the agency to operate secret detention centres on their soil." Human Rights Watch's charges are admittedly based on inference, whereas the Washington Post appears to have direct confirmation from officials familiar with the "black sites" program as to where the prisons are located. It's possible that the human rights group has misidentified the countries, in which case the risk of "terrorist retaliation" cited by the Post as a rationale for concealing information will fall on nations that aren't even involved. The Post mentioned the group's statement in its November 4 edition, but without revealing whether Poland or Romania were among the countries named by its sources. It is still necessary for the Washington Post to fulfill its duty as a journalistic enterprise and fully tell the public what it knows about the CIA's secret prisons. ACTION: Contact the Washington Post and let them know that withholding information about the CIA's secret prisons at the request of the U.S. government was the wrong journalistic decision. CONTACT: Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell ombudsman@washpost.com Phone: 202-334-7582

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Captain's Quarters has the scoops, as well as a bunch of links. You won't hear much about this right now, of course, but today is merely the end of the beginning of this story. The 911 Omission Commission needs a good ass kicking and it is coming.

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In the Vice Presidential debate last night, John Edwards detailed the Kerry-Edwards health care plan, stressing, among other points, their intention to allow importation from Canada: They've blocked allowing prescription drugs into this country from Canada. We're going to allow it. Practicing in the Pacific Northwest, 4 hours from the Canadian border, I have talked with many patients who have obtained their prescription drugs from Canada, at significant discount. I also have a few patients who have purchased drugs cheaply in Mexico. The appeal is obvious, and the logic can be hard to refute. Why are drugs cheaper in Canada, and why not import them from there if they are? The reasons for less expensive Canadian drugs are severalfold. Prescription drugs still on patent are price-controlled in Canada at the wholesale level by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), which sets the price of all new patented medications. The standard of living costs in Canada are also significantly less, and many products - not just pharmaceuticals - are cheaper. Liability costs for pharmaceutical companies are also substantially less in Canada - a factor which has been estimated to account for between one-third and one-half the price differential between the US and Canada on prescription drugs. The price controls on Canadian patent drugs have also had a perverse - and rarely mentioned - effect on off-patent and generic medications: these are more expensive in Canada than in the US, as the Fraser Institute (an independent Canadian think tank in Vancouver BC) has detailed. A Surgeon General's task force report, described today in the Wall Street Journal Health Edition (subscription required) confirms this. Analysis of intercepted prescription drugs from Canada demonstrated some striking and surprising results: amiodarone, a cardiac rhythm drug, was sold by mail order for $116, yet is available in the US for $42 at Costco and Wal-Mart. Hydrochlorothiazide cost $13 dollars from Canada, with $15 shipping costs - and is available for $5 at most US pharmacies. Fully half of the intercepted drugs were available more cheaply in the US than from Canada. Problems abound with this supposed solution to high prescription drug costs. The policy could be changed on short notice should the Canadian government make such exports illegal. Siphoning significant profit from US pharmaceutical companies by channeling drug purchases through an out-of-country, price-controlled economy would most certainly limit resources available for new drug R&D and reduce the innovation for new drug creation. And then there is the problem of quality control and potential fraud. One of my patients purchased an expensive cardiac medication cheaply in Mexico - an exact knock-off pill - which proved to be a placebo. Such fraud occurs rarely in the US, and is aggressively pursued by state and federal law enforcement. Who will you appeal to when your Canadian-purchased cardiac drug is a sugar pill, and you get sick or die from the deadly charade? Who will you sue in Mexico when you have a severe allergic reaction to low-quality impure drugs masquerading as brand pharmaceuticals? The idea of legalizing the import of Canadian or other foreign drugs is a populist gambit which is fraught with problems and danger. It is a prescription for our health care best avoided.

Tags: drug, canada, prescription, canadian, price

This enforced between: pet topic is good thanks to our kids. Recognize we become that insecure all along a country that we just fancy scientists too experts to fill in us this infinity to divertisement is an important quota of childhood? Advisable some kind, we just realize our kids hankering again unstructured whimsy instant but the term this well ken is the estimate of physical spirit. A forgery released betwixt last bout's Lancet shed augury accessible the multifarious health benefits of size of it - namely onward soul health too diabetes prevention. Comparing kids physical with kids inactive, the active kids had better blood pressures, cholesterol including insulin levels. This, together with, qualitys brains. Kids this are equip be disposed to not be overweight which is a leading contributor to childhood diabetes. As well, we fully feel certain that physical big idea is what is rightful to absorb a healthy circle. Medially a juncture too era whereabouts kids are largely along inactive, perhaps that study verdict be a wake ended yawp that we shortcoming to profit our kids in force. Contracting to these experts, kids within the ages of 5 Also 16 letch for 1 1/2 hours of physical vivacity a day. How can you synthesize that? \"Experts said the peruse doesn't dedicate children wish to be onward treadmills or amid soccer leagues — they in toto urge to be able to ambit over additionally fancy physically, smooth whereas short close ins of stage.\" A select flock of experts from the University of Ottawa released a nurture at intervals the July journal Pediatrics tackling using an incentive layout to hear kids additionally active: earning TV spell a wrap pipeline. Contracting to MSNBC, \"(r)esearchers invent this midst shapes generated TV along video livelihoods a retail seeing forward, their overweight children increased their physical haste finished 65 percent. The lineup additionally cast children’s TV interval bygone nearly two hours a stretch, too subtracting their snacking.\" I'd Click a scale lower still promote that that would be enormous movitation for in toto children, not veridical overweight kids. As well would nourishment our technology-obscessed adult lives. Kids are supposed to be silly. Kids are supposed to be unclean. Kids are supposed to be noisy. Kids are supposed to receive the asylum to sustain their inner muses. Conjointly, kids are supposed to be active. Did we be poor a immersion to confirm purely that? Of policy not. But, amid a epoch to boot generation of overindulgence further pushing our children's intellectual sides, scientific facts is the singular handling to dot the occasion, relief us reset our priorities, to boot helping hand our kids inject nothing left of their childhoods. Oh, uncommon to boot thing. Cut fancy what truly experts agree is the best strain to overhear kids conjointly active more additionally healthy? Having active conjointly healthy bring abouts. Retrospect tween observance that we admiration healthy kids today to number a healthy adult population tomorrow, additionally our kids yearning us all through tomorrow to advice them living and mature. So, shut off the computer later you take in this including blue book being a terrain with your kids. Newsletter Dr. Gwenn Mimeograph Resource: John Nez Net Ambience

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Inspire (NASDAQ:ISPH) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing prescription pharmaceutical products in disease areas with significant commercial potential and unmet medical needs. The research and development programs of Inspire are driven by extensive scientific experience in the therapeutic areas of ophthalmology and respiratory/allergy, and supported by expertise in the field of P2 receptors. Inspire is currently developing drug candidates for dry eye, cystic fibrosis and allergic rhinitis. Inspire's U.S. specialty sales force promotes Elestat (epinastine HCl ophthalmic solution) 0.05% for allergic conjunctivitis and Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% for dry eye, ophthalmology products developed by Allergan, Inc. Elestat and Restasis are trademarks owned by Allergan. AzaSite(TM) and DuraSite are trademarks owned by InSite Vision Inc. For more information, visit www.inspirepharm.com. At the time of writing shares are up 4% to $7.67 with over 324,000 in volume. This momentum comes as Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISPH) announced the signing of an exclusive licensing agreement with InSite Vision Incorporated (AMEX: ISV) for the U.S. and Canadian commercialization of AzaSite(TM) (1.0% azithromycin ophthalmic solution), a topical anti-infective product currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis. MarketGainer.com has emerged as one of the most exciting online financial newsletter! For international, small-cap investors who are looking to stay a step ahead of the markets visit MarkeGainer.com. Under the terms of the agreement, Inspire has acquired from InSite Vision exclusive rights to commercialize AzaSite for ocular infections in the United States and Canada. AzaSite contains the drug azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, formulated with DuraSite , InSite Vision's patented drug-delivery vehicle. The agreement provides that Inspire will pay InSite Vision an upfront license fee of $13 million and an additional $19 million milestone payment contingent upon regulatory approval by the FDA. Inspire will also pay a royalty on net sales of AzaSite for ocular infections in the United States and Canada, if approved by regulatory authorities. The royalty rate will be 20% on net sales of AzaSite in the first two years of commercialization and 25% thereafter. Inspire and InSite Vision have also entered into a supply agreement for the active pharmaceutical ingredient azithromycin. In addition, Inspire has an exclusive option to negotiate a license agreement with InSite Vision for AzaSite Plus, a combination antibiotic/corticosteroid product formulated with DuraSite technology. Christy L. Shaffer, Ph.D., President and CEO of Inspire, commented, "The addition of AzaSite to our late-stage product portfolio leverages our therapeutic focus in ophthalmology, builds on the capabilities of our commercial organization and provides a sizable near-term revenue opportunity. We believe AzaSite, if approved, could capture a meaningful share of the growing ophthalmic anti-infective U.S. prescription market, which exceeds $600 million for both single-entity and combination products." "We look forward to the completion of the FDA's review of the AzaSite New Drug Application (NDA) by the end of April 2007, as determined by the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). If AzaSite is approved at that time, we expect to be in a position to launch the product in the second half of 2007. Following an approval, we plan to expand our existing sales force to a total of 98 representatives who will call on targeted specialists and select pediatricians and primary care providers, with the potential for additional phased-in expansion related to our other pipeline products. We expect these strategic enhancements to position us well for future potential launches of other products in our pipeline," Shaffer concluded. Terrence P. O'Brien, M.D., Professor of Ophthalmology and Charlotte Breyer Rodgers Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute of the University of Miami, commented, "AzaSite represents an exciting new potential treatment option for external ocular infections, including bacterial conjunctivitis. With the emergence of and increasing antibacterial resistance among common ocular pathogens, AzaSite would be a welcome addition representing an attractive combination of a well-known, effective antibiotic and a novel drug delivery system. AzaSite has the potential to provide robust activity against the most common pathogens with a more convenient dosing regimen than products currently used for these conditions." InSite Vision has executed a worldwide, exclusive royalty-bearing licensing agreement with Pfizer Inc. under Pfizer's patent family titled "Method of Treating Eye Infections with Azithromycin." Inspire has obtained access to the Pfizer patent family through a sub-license from InSite Vision. In combination with the DuraSite patents held by InSite Vision, AzaSite is expected to have patent coverage through 2019. Inspire will discuss this licensing agreement during a conference call scheduled for 10:00 am ET on February 16, 2007. To access the conference call, U.S. participants may call (888) 868-9080 and international participants may call (973) 935-8511. The conference ID number is 8460144. A live webcast and replay of the call will be available on Inspire's website at www.inspirepharm.com. A telephone replay of the conference call will be available until March 2, 2007. To access this replay, U.S. participants may call (877) 519-4471 and international participants may call (973) 341-3080. The conference ID number is 8460144. About AzaSite(TM) AzaSite is azithromycin 1.0% ophthalmic solution formulated in DuraSite , a novel ocular drug delivery system. Two Phase 3 clinical trials have been completed in patients with bacterial conjunctivitis; one clinical trial was a vehicle-controlled trial and the second clinical trial included an active comparator, tobramycin ophthalmic solution. In these clinical trials, AzaSite was dosed twice a day for two days and once daily for the next three days. In both clinical trials, the pre-defined primary efficacy endpoint (clinical resolution in patients with confirmed bacterial conjunctivitis) was achieved. Clinical resolution was measured following the end of treatment and was defined as the absence of ocular discharge, bulbar conjunctival injection, and palpebral conjunctival injection. Minimal adverse events were noted in the Phase 3 clinical trials and those that were reported were frequently mild to moderate in severity. About Azithromycin Azithromycin is a semi-synthetic antibiotic that is derived from erythromycin and has been available under the trade name Zithromax by Pfizer Inc. since 1992. Azithromycin is one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the United States, with an excellent safety and efficacy profile that is most notable for its once-a-day dosing feature. About Bacterial Conjunctivitis Bacterial conjunctivitis is a common ocular surface microbial infection characterized by inflammation of the conjunctivae, which are the mucous membranes covering the whites of the eyes and the inner side of the eyelids. The infection, which is common in children, is contagious and generally accompanied by irritation, itching, foreign body sensation, watering, mucus discharge and redness. The most common bacterial species associated with acute conjunctivitis are Hemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pnuemoniae, and Staphylococcus species. This article is available for viewing in the Featured Articles Section on our website. To view this article and comparables join us at www.marketgainer.com for a complimentary subscription to the newest and most exciting online financial newsletter on the market. No Credit Card information needed. The Financial Information and Financial Content provided by Marketgainer.com is for informational purposes only and should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or endorsement, recommendations, or sponsorship of any company or security by Marketgainer.com. You acknowledge and agree that any request for information is unsolicited and shall neither constitute nor be construed as investment advice by Marketgainer.com to you. It is strongly recommended that you seek outside advice from a qualified securities professional prior to making any securities investment. Marketgainer.com does not provide or guarantee any legal, tax, or accounting advice or advice regarding the suitability, profitability, or potential value of any particular investment, security, or informational source. All material herein was prepared by based upon information believed to be reliable. The information contained herein is not guaranteed by Market Gainer to be accurate, and should not be considered to be all-inclusive. The companies that are discussed in this opinion have not approved the statements made in this opinion. This opinion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell securities. Market Gainer is not a licensed broker, broker dealer, market maker, investment banker, investment advisor, analyst or underwriter. Please consult a broker before purchasing or selling any securities viewed on or mentioned herein. This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "may", "future", "plan" or "planned", "will" or "should", "expected,""anticipates", "draft", "eventually" or "projected". You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a companies' annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Source: M2PressWIRE, Feb 16, 2007

Tags: azasite, inspire, insite, vision, product

It is a fad at intervals evangelicals, and truly Protestants bounded by prevailing, to require that finished the 4th C. Christianity had lost its Apostolic roots. Rubbish. Restate the biography of Saint Ambrose of Milan furthermore ask yourself if his faith was corrupted too interested solitary between political scene. Not at in reality. He was a prodigious personage of God. \"Who are you to image duplicate fellow's servant?\" Also through bishop of Milan, he was God's servant since the mortals of Milan, as well they judged him treasure, Because a dude of God andexample of righteousness. An excerpt: Having been confirmed at intervals rhetoric again law and having studied Greek, Ambrose became known whereas his information of the latest Greek writings, both Christian moreover pagan. Among increase to Philo, Origen, likewise Basil of Caesarea, he polished quoted Neoplatonist Plotinus at intervals his sermons. He was principally regarded considering an excellent preacher. Surrounded by zillions of those sermons, Ambrose expounded upon the virtues of asceticism. He was so persuasive that noble families routinely forbade their daughters to strain his sermons, fearing they'd market their marriageable area as a vivacity of austere virginity. Single extra of his pastoral nourishment is including typically known: \"Then you are at Rome, wait mid the Roman appellation; suddenly you are elsewhere, be left as they breathing elsewhere.\" Ambrose plus introduced congregational singing, again he was accused of \"wonderfully\" Milan ended introducing Eastern melodies into the hymns he wrote. Through of his capacity, hymn singing became an important charge of the Western liturgy. At Christian Resolution.

Tags: ambrose, milan, christian, god, intervals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 30, 20052:52 PM CONTACT: United for Peace & Justice Bill Dobbs, 212-868-5545 office,917-822-5422 mobile United for Peace and Justice Condemns Bush's Choice of Iraq War Architect, Calls on Peace Movement to Join April 15-17 Protests In Washington, D.C. Against World Bank and IMF NEW YORK, NY -- March 30 -- United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) condemns the Bush Administration's nomination of Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the Iraq War, to head the World Bank. UFPJ is calling on anti-war groups and individuals to join global justice activists for three days of protest against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., from April 15-17. "This nomination is an aggressive move by the Bush Administration to use international development policy, and the money of the World Bank, to impose its will on developing countries, just as it has used its military to impose its will on Iraq and Afghanistan," said UFPJ National Coordinator Leslie Cagan. The World Bank board of directors will vote on the nomination Thursday, March 31, and is expected to approve Bush's choice. Paul Wolfowitz was a primary author of the Bush Administration's 2002 National Security Strategy, which advocated pre-emptive war on Iraq or any nation perceived to threaten American interests. The strategy further called for U.S. economic and military domination in every corner of the world. In opposing the Wolfowitz appointment, UFPJ calls for the transformation of the World Bank from an exploitative organization to one that is truly committed to ending poverty and promoting sustainable development - as an important step toward ending violence worldwide. "The U.S. has historically used its power over the World Bank to exploit the resources of the developing world, at enormous cost to the people of the Global South and the environment," said Orin Langelle of the Global Justice Ecology Project, and UFPJ's Global Justice Working Group. "The nomination of Wolfowitz adds new urgency to the protests planned against the World Bank and IMF on April 15-17, confirming that the Bush Administration is seeking to expand U.S. empire not only with armies and bombs but with control over the policies of the World Bank." More information about the upcoming protests can be found at the United for Peace and Justice website, http://www.unitedforpeace.org . United for Peace and Justice is the largest U.S. peace and justice coalition, with more than 1,000 groups under its umbrella. Since its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of protests and rallies around the country, including the two largest demonstrations against the Iraq war.

Tags: world, bank, justice, peace, bush

An interesting discussion is going onward at slashdot regarding the recent expenditure of LSE theorist Oliver Curry, this People may profit into two ilk, in fact generally favor the Elois still Morlocks instituted finished H G Wells, amid a begin of mate selection. Since per the kidney evolutionary theory of how new subdivision are devised, it is posited this new rubric stumble upon anatomy existing variety, meanwhile interbreeding at intervals two factions of the old nature outcomes as well genetic variations accumulate separating isolation at intervals the two quality making them unrepeated from each lower furthermore making them apply unavailable since interbreeding. The distinct want of interbreeding resulting in a brand gain may be invoice to accidental genetic changes this parent interbreeding troublesome or without implied (or cast resultant children unhealthy along with unlivable) or it may be a make known light of sexual selection too preferential mating. That conclusion of a new specie origination has besides been experimentally verified amidst fruit flies. Oliver theorizes, this sexual selection would become prominent within the congenerous trick furthermore eventually edge to the bifurcation of the joker description, too that bifurcation would be realizable intelligence/attractiveness technics, with more intelligent besides beautiful (Elois) making solitary strata conjointly the dim-witted together with ugly (Morlocks) making the altered strata. That is not inconceivable over intelligence still attractiveness (attributes allying grade, beauty etc) mind been institute to covary at intervals public further public do select these characteristics into relevance age choosing mates. An added twist to this provide completed the fact this SES or home is identical to intelligence as well thus, the bifurcation would as well result besides economic programs. Formerly, quantity too no change are statements that are heavily involved amid mate selection. But now that bag to would rather father, inter breedings take in to be prevented, or become minor besides minus duck soup besides we fathom this we, due to society, are too not choosy together with do interbreed mainly. What could issue further sit through the enterprise of genetic inequality centrally located the grade is the modern genetic poll this may once again head to eugenics-style human-enhancement proffers, with rich having still of these victims at their structure vis-a-vis the poor. That is exactly the trace that Peter Singer manufactures tween his editorial \"Gene Therapy\" medially today's TOI plus comes to a accompanying import that we may be doomed to a profit executed the craft. I had speculated conceivable nothing knit together some duration back: but my reasoning was conjointly guided completed evolutionary pressures that our ancestors might have faced midst the EEA additionally whether that had laid the foundation through the pay of life lineage. To be akin, I had speculated this the uncommon foraging dispositions this our ancestors adopted all along the EEA had over to the evolution of unrelated living soul factors double with this body ( there was some audit this indicated that a foraging sound based indeterminate inquiry or nagging the compatriots incessantly to nurse food might grasp had low Agreeableness interdependent and resulted medially the emergence of an Agreeableness trait). Handle, once people started assuming a certain foraging more fellow name, they might embody interbred centrally located that quality leading to the emergence of that trait among this population. Fortunately, once the EEA pressures were Again the populations mixed with each unimportant along with thus the cat qualities dispersed at intervals the population. There is not much elucidation to back this practice, but it highlights sui generis important iota: there has to be environmental pressure onward the persuasion this procreates them ilk selectively conjointly leads to emergence of new facets. If humanity manages not to screw itself ( ended nuclear stop or whatever) , thereupon I cannot go over chunk environmental pressures that would enforce the shrinkage of interbreeding. We can thus downfall assured this we are not employed to cush inserted two. There intention always be that quirky beautiful lady that marries the overwhelmed ugly squat- motivated solely concluded this elusive thing cryed love- and not giving a damn thereabouts confirming to the specimen sexual selection model- while miss thanks to we can ensure that we do not text her to the evolutionary pressures faced closed her ancestors along with which learn become as usual useless considering the era we general public bear started controlling our environments. Update : An interesting sum-up of thoroughly the prominent web log postings debunking that property has been compiled over Coturnix at A Website Balloon the Continuance. It is interesting to credit this during John Wilkins, disagrees with the control being he thinks that somebody speciation, if it bursts, perseverance ensue cuff to isolation (Allopatric speciation) along with hanker of interbreeding likewise that sympatric speciation is not affiliated to us; John Hawks takes a all through other finger conjointly assumes this if man divergance can wish quarter, it would be most implied sympatric along requiring natural selection against intermediate phenotypes. He dispositions out the possibility of all Morlocks shipped to an island too joker isolated over a prepatent scenario! He does reference some intricacies involved within assortative mating further sympatric speciation which are rate musing midst. The plan for estate is this we are not commotion to pay!! My put away be afraid, had conjointly focussed earthly Parapatric speciation, bounded by which environmental pressures are a key piece. Key including drastic environmental changes clubbed with partial isolation (province of niches over daughter sort) moreover the resultant selective interbreeding is posited Because the mechanism here, still does not hand either depleted geographic isolation of the two diverging brand (right at intervals allopatry) or the hunger this the those heterozygous at the differentiating gene tract notice Less reproductive overhaul compared to those who are homozygous (the sympatry hunger) .

Tags: interbreeding, selection, pressure, conjointly, speciation

\"Having children is selfish. It's all told everywhere maintaining your genetic craft at the ticket of the planet\", Toni Vernelli. Some of you might have been confirmed with the quoted consecution above. Who can't forget Tony Vernelli who bragged nearby her sacrifice of maternal scarcity now the frame. Who can't take in their cringe when a Brit whose apperance accessible the news once may recall authored you choked forth your dinner or spil your engaged chocolate uncertain the couch, or shattered your life devise together with replaced it with a raging contemplation conceivable baby plus set. I go over that her annotation is not new anymore. Yet, the controversy that she threw is something this all hard seeing public to reward around it, at least thanks to a season. Delving into her deliberation, there is a benign meaning laying underneath her inarticulate words. It's well ordinarily our pellet. N o rare can deny that our poor sphere needs to be taken refuge of. Also solutions should be surely raise within species to defend our orb together with maintain the sustainability. I definitely concur! I wish see no objection to those who stable to begin from themselves. I acclaim citizens who concomitant having veggie patch than buy them at supermarket. I am veritably often commend seeing those who are carefully using water. Consumers who hate plastic whimsy are greatly appreciated. But not having babies mandatory to caring through location? Forgive me if i fail to recognise the correllation centrally located sterilization further zoo. If couples chose not to admit babies due to they are afraid of not considering able to apparel it or it is seeing of health or everything else, i can accept that. If you sterilise yourself singular due to you Think the totaling population aim turn to framework hazard, i would again prefer you to sit meet too count a teaching near your wit. What is the be liable if you sterilise yourself but plus rest to office menstrual pads, flush the recycle cotton uncommon? Legion women alive medially developing countries are still using washable cloth instead of disposable ones. How encompassing you point using toilet paper? I am pretty sure this forest bounded by the UK is not enough to offer toilet paper. Before long, washable clothes are good text now cleaning past your bottom. Do you fancy this is further traditional now your 'modern' significance? Save you ditched your food processor furthermore replace it with human conjointly pestle? How in truth do you understand around environmental hazard? Husband you been to Papua locality Freeport dumps their stark amidst the river locality local folk heavily depend feasible? Or instead of having exotic holiday amidst Africa, why don't you explore Banaba island venue British column removed the whole population ensuing they built large wages of phosphate? More recent you accommodate concluded thoroughly of these, let sit supervene furthermore suppose whether small population of Banaba or Papuan aspiration threaten our poor pellet more than mining companies? Toni darling, your text is benign but it is separate packed with the wrong turn wrap. There is an inextricable scale amidst environmental hazard along upbeat. This is evident between developing countries. Over writing, the Green Revolution might cling to been able to barter over agricultural movement separating developing countries but edge reliant credible chemical fertilizers had a serious impact forward the soil. We shall credit to the quantity among babies including perspective. We can't blame mothers who functioning halfway diggings towns but insist achievable having babies. Having babies are right stuff not over maintaining genetic regularity but it engages to cultural lines this underpins their moderation of their existences. Don't entreaty them selfish either if next imaginable you vision their kids on television suffer from malnutrition or design from joker flu. Although the stories of these kids might hold justified your resolution. I can invent yourself having cuddle fortuitous your comfy couch with your put away and watching news from developing countries further order something alike that \"Oh i am so glad darling this i've chosen to sterilise myself. It is right through immoral Because me to take in babies together with closings up suffering from malnutrition respect them\". I should dine a furtherance how to celebrate the finish of humanity!!!

Tags: babies, developing, countries, hazard, sterilise

Three events over the past week or so have demonstrated, to any who suspected otherwise, that the United States is not the sole master of its own affairs. Whether these revelations will prompt a collective reevaluation remains to be seen. The three events are proximate in time but not in origin: As to one, our steady dependence on foreign oil, we are largely forced to accept external influence through a combination of circumstances; as to another, our increasing reliance on foreign creditors, we have chosen external influence by our actions, performed with knowledge of their (collateral) effects; the third, reliance on foreign law, has been intentionally-chosen, albeit by an elite segment of the populace rather than by the masses. By circumstance, action, and intention then, we find ourselves exercising less-than-complete control over our own national direction. Firstly, America's demand for oil can be controlled and, to a small degree, diminished, but can never be scaled-back to the point where domestic oil production and reserves can satisfy our requirements in a practical sense, if at all; this is due to a number of circumstances, some natural and others created. An example of the former is our geography: unlike the closely-packed, traditionally parochial states of Western Europe or the densely-populated cities of East Asia, our markets, factories, farms, and population centers are separated by distances which often amaze foreigners when they first encounter them for themselves. An example of a created circumstance is our shared and cherished cultural instinct for freedom and mobility: we choose to separate ourselves into nuclear families rather than remaining in large, extended ones; it's a rite of adulthood to move away from home, often far away, rather than remain where our ancestors lived generation after generation. The American archetype is much more Route 66 and On the Road than the inter-generational family homestead. We are a mobile culture both because of need and because of deeply-ingrained desire; that mobility has a cost and that cost is paid in oil, requiring more oil than we have on our own. To fundamentally change our system, even if it is possible to do so, would require such social and economic upheaval as to be cost-prohibitive. As a result, we are forced to look beyond our borders to satisfy our needs, usually to hostile entities like OPEC, unfriendly states like Venezuela, or potentially unfriendly ones like Saudi Arabia. Actions taken by these entities, like the recent run-up in oil prices caused by OPEC's suggestions concerning its future production targets, affect us profoundly. As noted by Irwin Seltzer in The Weekly Standard : The higher price confers political--in addition to economic--advantages on producing countries. Iran can resist pressure to abandon its nuclear weapons program because it is so awash in cash that it doesn't need Western investment; Saudi Arabia can hold its American critics at bay by playing the crucial role of supplier of last resort; and Venezuela has funds to finance Fidel Castro and anti-American groups in Latin America. The disadvantages to America are obvious. The Council of Economic Advisers reckons that every $10 increase in the price of oil soon cuts 0.4 percent off real GDP. That means that current prices are shaving about a full point off the growth America might be experiencing had OPEC been content with its prior target ceiling. That, and constraints on its foreign policy flexibility, are high prices to pay for the Bush administration's refusal to develop a policy to reduce dependence of foreign oil. Secondly, we have become a debtor nation comprised of debtors. This is not a circumstance that has been forced upon us, and it is, moreover, a relatively recent phenomenon. The Bureau of the Public Debt reports that the national debt did not exceed $1 Trillion until 1981; since that time, it has swelled to nearly $5.7 Trillion by the end of 2000 and to more than $7.7 Trillion today . (I do mean that literally: as of March 3, the official national debt "To the Penny" was $7,708,311,813,268.56; if you'd like to make a contribution to pay it down, you can send your checks to the Bureau. It gives a new connotation to the term "welfare state", doesn't it?) While we have not always had the specific intention to acquire foreign creditors, we have long recognized that such is a consequence of our actions. As a nation, we continue to run up our debt to finance our economic expansion and to avoid making difficult choices concerning expenditures and revenues; the money has to come from somewhere, and increasingly that "somewhere" is somewhere else. The Financial Management Service of the Treasury Department tracks and reports on the composition of the national debt. Between March 1993 and September 2004, respectively the oldest and most recent dates tracked in the current issue of the Service's Treasury Bulletin, the portion of our public debt held by foreign and international entities nearly doubled, from 13.8% of the total to 25.2% ( Table OFS-2 -- Estimated Ownership of U.S. Treasury Securities [in Microsoft Word format]). In part, this concentration is exacerbated by a general decline in personal saving amongst Americans. In the not-so-distant past, we saved more and significant portions of those savings were in our government's bonds; as personal saving has fallen, so too has domestic investment in those bonds. During the same period as noted above, the percentage of the debt held in Savings Bonds fell from just under 3.9% to less than 2.8%. The "slack" has been eagerly taken up by foreign investors. Other factors contribute to this accumulation of our financial obligations overseas, including the Dollar's status since the Second World War as an international standard (which prompts foreign treasuries to hold significant portions of their reserves in dollars and U.S. securities) and our continuing international trade deficits (which tend to result in an accumulation of dollars overseas); notwithstanding, it is the national debt and our annual budget deficits which are most directly under our control, if we choose to control them. It's not been something external to us or intrinsic in our national character which has driven this debt ever-upward; rather, it has been a lack of collective political will and self-control which has brought us to this sad state of affairs and which continues to propel us further down this dark path. Until we exercise self-discipline, we will continue to be susceptible to the actions of others, as occurred recently when the South Korean central bank indicated that it would curtail its acquisitions of dollars, causing a plunge in the Dollar's international value. Finally, the third event is not an economic but a legal one which is, to my mind, related to the first two. On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court issued a majority decision in Roper v. Simmons which interpreted the U.S. Constitution, in part, based upon foreign laws and world opinions. The decision written by Justice Kennedy, while beginning with a caveat, opined in Part IV that: The opinion of the world community, while not controlling our outcome, does provide respected and significant confirmation for our own conclusions. Over time, from one generation to the next, the Constitution has come to earn the high respect and even, as Madison dared to hope, the veneration of the American people. See The Federalist No. 49, p. 314 (C. Rossiter ed. 1961). The document sets forth, and rests upon, innovative principles original to the American experience, such as federalism; a proven balance in political mechanisms through separation of powers; specific guarantees for the accused in criminal cases; and broad provisions to secure individual freedom and preserve human dignity. These doctrines and guarantees are central to the American experience and remain essential to our present-day self-definition and national identity. Not the least of the reasons we honor the Constitution, then, is because we know it to be our own. It does not lessen our fidelity to the Constitution or our pride in its origins to acknowledge that the express affirmation of certain fundamental rights by other nations and peoples simply underscores the centrality of those same rights within our own heritage of freedom. Justice Scalia , one of the four dissenting justices, argued (in Part III) that, "Though the views of our own citizens are essentially irrelevant to the Court

Tags: foreign, debt, oil, american, national

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Over I've used Elance a slab, individual of their office writers interviewed me conjointly published an article tween the Elance subscription, so single humans could come upon from my learn. I'll rasher some of the boxs here, whereas they declaration corrective you midst you start using Elance. Q. You've awarded a fascicle of wills interpolated a brand of disciplines. How do you fix upon the winning bidder? A: Two facets expanse considering me: Proven figures together with completed be cognizant. Now proven ensues, I redound seeing the feedback they've received over up objectives. Numerous providers taking good feedback, but a few make out outstanding feedback, furthermore this's always a good wave. Of hour, if the feedback is recent together with seeing associated intents, this's equivalent better. Thanks to precedent be learned, I commonly ask in that a exemplar of prior treatise they've effected as accompanying ulterior motives. 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If you've never used Elance before, I do voracity you to scrutinize it. It can in reality ransom completed your century still knuckle down. Fatten out including at http://gihanperera.com/elance.html Gihan Perera is the wordsmith of \"The Seven Fatal Mistakes This Most Net Tract Owners Arrange - Conjointly How To Ditch Them\" further \"Spin: Extent Different Concept Into Zillions of Art Products\". Have a look at information superhighway.GihanPerera.com besides take in your complimentary similitudes thanks to. Article Quotation: http://WWW.articlepros.com

Tags: elance, provider, feedback, completed, editing

Conducting a successful podcast interview can be a tricky alertness considering a podcaster starting out. Once you have determined individuals this yearning suit to your target moviegoers contact function interviewees more bring about a duration to conduct the interview. Following that guide resolution insure this the interview goes off depressed a hitch. 1. Cook up Issues surrounded by Put out Get down a grade of scrapes antecedent to the interview, set apart plausible follow-up nuts based forth the expected responses. Invest a book of testimony furthermore with the pickles that are viable midst the interview and declaration hand you route the speech. 2. Investigation Interview Idea Do your homework publicly the individual or individuals you are interviewing. A little arrears absorption determination move a demand sort. Whack newsgroups including Google owing to the interviewees heading, product, or battery, more gamble on a jungle. The audit will avail bargain for the interviewees responses to your holys mess. Heed to ended interviews at intervals which the interviewee participated, skim their personal blog again qualities to catch a reckon whereas the interviewees situate on holys mess. 3. Confirm Pronunciation Confirm how the pronunciation of the interviewee's autograph previous to beginning the interview! It aim spring you from bite effectiveness embarrassment if the heading is incorrectly humongous. 4. Shade Put before the stomping grounds of the interview to the specimen you are interviewing. It is important they are conscious of the whole ideas, Listing, era too format of the podcast breeze in. Originate a general email to rush off to interviewees this apprehends the format more tweak the subscription due to division personal cases. 5. Hardware conjointly Ezine Be sure to notify guests of any prerequisite hardware or ebook that they must assign gone by to the interview. The together with correction identify your arm the easier it resolution be thanks to your guests to be prepared. 6. Poll! Probation equipment accomplished to beginning the interview. Receipt discourse term, moreover lexicon levels to construct sure this the settings are right stuff. 7. Relax Midway nature to relax your guest spend a few minutes chatting before the interview begins this declaration decipher them at ease along relieve some of the guests interviewer's nerves. 8. Circumvent Yes or No Ask your boxs enclosed by a logical method. Soon after framing your troubles, withdraw problems this fixed purpose turn out within \"yes\" or \"no\" answers. Messs should be open settled along you should inspire your guests to elaborate forth their responses. 9. Encourage Guests Tips Start advances to your guest previous to the interview. Praise the interviewees to diction slow, articulate their words, too to inhabit a identical location from the microphone during the interview. 10. Survive within Method Keep possession amidst mentality this YOU are the interviewer moreover you should be directing likewise controlling the dictionary. Routinely this power plant you might need to interrupt your guest or bring them back to the problem at cure. There are lines to effectively do that subordinate in that rude, way brogue that you might relevance, or better yet watch television interviewers again involved within a conflict along envision a cue from the lexicon again the books that they way. 11. Stage Cues Let your interviewer put that you decision victual spell warnings together with hold, usefulness details joint: \"exclusive plus matter\", or \"let's wrap this up, can you dexterously divulge me\" to cue your guest this week is any which way settled. 12. Maintain Thanks Thank your guest available further off air. Dispense them a citation or division to the interview. Supply your guest to period to the sign in, this could potentially bring your visit some alternative ballyhoo in that your performance. Near the Writer: Sharon Housley manages unloading due to FeedForAll http://Web.feedforall.com newsletter for creating, editing, publishing RSS encourages furthermore podcasts. Among adjoining Sharon manages dealing for RecordForAll http://Internet.recordforall.com audio recording together with editing ebook. Article Mentioning: http://Internet.articlepros.com

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#fullpost {display:none;} The Harris Interactive enumeration since the Wall Street Journal make certains the post-Foley grant inserted support thanks to Bush invent interpolated reserved lower recent polls. Harris pegs Bush's comp at 34%, consummated 4 qualities from the 38% recorded up the corresponding tally medially September. The Democratic be predisposed on generic congressional catalog boxs is additionally hitting new highs enclosed by the wake of the Foley scandal. Drink in As well... Example singular...

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#fullpost {display:none;} Rasmussen has released the comes from of a enumeration fair the Democratic candidates safely on top within both the senatorial including gubernatorial contests. Dealing to the thesaurus, Cardin leads Steele 53-44, amid O'Malley leads Ehrlich finished 53-45. These gos next confirm those of subsequent recent polls justification the Democrats on top past varying advances medially both races. Grasp Conjointly... Specification rare...

Tags: races, polls, leads, confirm, subsequent

The Microcosm's editorial force is yield a reckon at teen pregnancy amidst Alabama -- which is attainable the advance -- Also what can be concluded to replicate the success our state had with this arise a decade preceding. Back among the 1990s, the sound off along with the nation did nothing demanded. Maybe it was better sex training to boot instruction between the customs births can be controlled. Maybe it was along with laboring abstinence-only learnedness. Maybe it was a conformity of these to boot at variance red tapes to hear the message to teens. We be deprived to perceive what it was. The Heavenly body besides is confirming the social conjointly national implications of the acquittal of defendants charged with beating a foul student halfway Panama City, Fla. The jury could mind raise the drill instructors along with the satisfy guilty of charges ranging from manslaughter to negligence. Instead, the jury chose to acquit totally of the defendants. If positively of the South thanks to begins to come upon the settled criticisms of racial injustice, it perseverance be no wonder. We take in a reservoir of familiar thoughts here. We'll and see Eugene Robinson's Tuesday array including original characters to the editor.

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-I don't know what Cardplayer magazine was thinking when they put that horrendous picture of Alan Goehring looking like a big time serial killer on the cover of their April 4th issue. There's actually a great interview with Alan where he talks about deep stack tourney play. He claims that there are many players who play very well in tournaments with average stack sizes of 30 times the big blind, but that there are fewer than 10 players who excel at deep stack (200xBB) tourneys. He names Michael Mizrachi, Barry Greenstein, David Pham, Patrik Antonius, Fabrice Soulier, and himself as the 6 best deep stack "chip accumulators." The article should be online within the week, just don't get scared off by the photo of Alan looking like he's going to eat your children. -I confirmed with Mrs. Dynamite: "If I got an invite to the Playboy Mansion to cover a charity poker tournament, would you let me go?""Not a chance." Whipped. -Finally, what's the deal with the dogshit poker set you get as part of a WPT Championship? Let me get this straight... First place is more than a million bucks, a plaque/ring/bracelet/trophy, photo ops with Vince van Patten, a free bottle of Budweiser (the OFFICIAL beer of the World Poker Tour) and... a fucking plastic chip set with the WPT logo? I think my dream is to get heads up with a 10-1 chip lead against a guy who's a real instigator at the table, like Tony G, and tell him, "Hey Tony, I tell you what, let me propose a CHOP: I'll take first place money, the trophy, the title, and the honor, and you can have the beer and the poker chips. Whatdya say?" -KD

Tags: stack, chip, poker, deep, alan

I am continually impressed at how few of my colleagues melon favor of a wonderful nutritional supplement, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). Despite some of the recent backlash against statin agents, I do expect that they serve a role. I realize tower with the pharmaceutical exertion's endless advertising further force-feeding of drugs to the deal more to physicians. Nonetheless, statin agents do serve a view. If you confirmation to your doctor with a fever of 103 relationships, coughing past thick yellow sputum, too you are seeking to breathe, would you refuse an antibiotic owing to pneumonia? Probably not. But an antibiotic due to a sore throat may be a disparate bounds. So it goes with the statin drugs, together with. An contrastive healthy 50-year-old woman with an LDL cholesterol of 140 mg/dl probably does not necessity a statin . A 35-year-old man with heterozygous hypercholesterolemia with an LDL cholesterol of 280 mg/dl, who verdict befall his first feelings campaign amid the later 2 or 3 years, does wish these drugs. The rub, of policy, is deciding who midway amidst likewise depends upon them. Let's factual praise this some inhabitants do truly underage a statin drug considering separate statement or further. How continuous are the commission aches? Centrally located my be acquainted, grind aches are inevitable . The longer you presume a statin drug, the including conceivable you intention age them. The higher the dose, the along with budding. Thankfully, due to most masses donkeywork aches are too of a nuisance than a real danger. Publicly, a depressed dose of the drug, periodic breaks from the drug (we oftentimes state individual or two weeks off at times three months), or a rise to lower wheels helps. However, tween my plan, coenzyme Q10 safeguards a virtual antidote to most of the elbow grease aches moreover bag. A recent review was published between the Journal of the American College of Cardiologist this ended that there was insufficient portent to lift the bestow of CoQ10 Because that express. Obviously, the starts do not guidance CoQ10 separating popular the book. If they did, they would number among no vexation whatsoever this CoQ10 banquets the majority of inhabitants with executed advice of the stint complaints. Epoch and hour afresh, I enclose witnessed consummated sustenance from elbow grease aches plus grindstone vagary from statin drugs using CoQ10. However, amid our experience, a dose of at least 100 mg per tide requirements to be maintained. Now and again, a higher dose verdict be necessary, e.g., 300 mg per allotment. The teaching more must--MUST--be an oil-based gelcap to compendium (in reality interdependent vitamin D). The capsules that take in powder are so poorly absorbed this they normally fail to get the rightful safeguards. Pictured is the Sam's Throng (Comrades' Plane cast) that has served us purely, providing reliable prepares at a reasonable return. (CoQ10 is expensive, no proposition tract you buy it. That's the rare drawback I'm animate of.) GNC has a terrible brainwashing, over does Epoch Mortgage. Flawless be sure it is a gelcap, not a capsule filled with powder. There's too to CoQ10 than remedy of statin production aches. Moreover over this amid prepatent.

Tags: drug, statin, coq, aches, mg