Politics are Every Where

Ten years ago it would have probably seemed very unlikely for Rosie O'Donnell to get into a fight with a cohost over politics on a day time talk show.  Rosie has always been outspoken, but she has also always been commercial.

There is something to say for our society when politics start bubbling up in shows like the view, especially when those bubbles pop and turn into brawls resulting in resignations. 

Now, Rosie did bring a number of viewers to The View but its unlikely that here departure from the show will slow down business for new york ticket broker that are offering tickets to The View.  It does however indicate that the networks are letting these fights take place.  They know that the issues are important enough to everyday Americans that they can make money off of conversations and even fights about them on air.

Rosie may be gone, but its probably likely that she will be replaced by someone just as vocal against the war.

Maybe we could expect a call from producers to Barbara Streisand and then we might witness dueling Barbaras!

There and Back Again with Resistant Tuberculosis

In another example of how little we can trust the government to take care of us, the public health system failed when it allowed a man with a resistant strain of tuberculosis to travel to The Prague and back again.  The man is from the Atlanta area and had not been told that he had a resistant strain of tuberculosis, only that he had TB and that he should not travel.

Well, he travelled and now health officials from the US CDC and other countries are concerned about the passengers that sat within 2 rows of him on the multiple flights that he took in May.

The man is now aware of his condition and is isolated in Atlanta.  The CDC was not even originally informed.

At some point int time the US has to step up and start treating public health seriously.  You would think they were rambling towards hangover cures instead of dealing with a diseases that could result in a severe outbreak.  This is just another example of multiple failings.  Recently multiple examples of severe flaws in the systems that check the food supply of people and their pets have been coming to light.

This story is just another example that the US does not have its act together when it comes to taking care of its citizens.

Can Wolfowitz survive on his Girl friends salary?

I do not know about you but I'm concerned about Paul Wolfowitz.

This famous architect of the Iraq war is losing his job at the World Bank after only two years.  That's just unfair, that job normally last five years.  This great patriotic deserves better treatment.

My hope is that his girlfriend's salary is high enough that it will enable him to live according to the lifestyle these become accustomed to living.  Maybe he can take some time off and find himself and maybe even find some weapons of mass destruction.

If that doesn't sustain them maybe he can pay some new ground and find some useful things to do for all the future Republicans from the Bush administration that are going to find themselves out of work in the next few months.

In two years at the World Bank he didn't have much of an opportunity to decrease poverty around the world, however he has a second chance to help Republicans leaving the White House stay out of poverty now.  Hopefully his girlfriend's salary which he helped set will be enough to sustain them so that he has the time he needs to carry out this new and vital mission.

If that doesn't work maybe he can upon off the engraved pens set that he received as a parting gift from the World Bank provided from the vast stockpiles of engraved pens that are routinely sent to Third World countries that are turned down for World Bank loans.

Your loan application has been denied.  We apologize but feel that your country is too corrupt to receive a loan from the World Bank.  We hope that you will reform and submitted new application utilizing these pens that we are providing is a token gift of our appreciation of your future business.  Please do not use these pens to harm the people of your country nor of the people of countries that neighbor your country.

Note. This article is full of sarcasm I have no idea of the World Bank really provides engraved pens to countries that are turned on for their loans.

Member of the Axis Against Evil Steps Down Today

Tony Blair is stepping down today after serving as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for 10 years.  Many people in the United States have complained that Tony Blair was at first too close with President Clinton and then too close with President Bush.  He was definitely close with America and Americans.

Blair has accomplished a great deal for the United Kingdom over the last 10 years.  His accomplishments have been over shadowed by his partnership with President Bush in the war on terror and the war in Iraq.

Blair is speaking today discussing his views on his accomplishments and purposes over the last 10 years, but it is unclear what he will do next.  Its doubtful that he will elect to retire to the country side or even his library to sit and stair at home furniture.  I suspect that he might join forces with Bill Clinton and join the ranks of  politicians that take on a new life after politics at a national level.

Clinton Gave Thailand Go Ahead to Break Aids Drug Patent

 Brazil and Thailand joined the list of countries that have broken the hold of patents on drugs that can be used to take care of AIDS patients.  Many countries feel that the pharmaceutical companies that developed the medications that can be used to treat AIDS patients are charging excessive fees for their medicine.  Some of these countries are taking steps to allow generic drug manufacturers to replicate the drugs and provide them a lower cost.

In the intellectual property of these companies is at stake, however former President Clinton in many countries around the world feel that the lives of people suffering from AIDS is more important than the property of the corporations that developed the drugs that extend lives and cure people.  It is definitely a complex situation and not one that's readily solved with the Solomon like approach.

The Prime Minister of Thailand recently indicated that President Clinton gave him the go-ahead, his full support, for Thailand to break the patent held by Abbott Laboratories and allow generic drug manufacturer to create drugs for the population in Thailand that has been diagnosed with AIDS.  That population is currently about 500,000 people.  The cancellation of the selective patent will save Thailand approximately $305 per person per year.  In other words that savings could total as much as $152 million a year for Thailand.  That is just savings Thailand will still be spending close to $350 million a year in actual cost for the generic drugs.

As we focus on breaking gridlock and creating action for people around the world, and a high level we are in favor of this action.  Pharmaceutical companies are definitely taking advantage of people in the pricing of their medications whether it's for life-saving AIDS drugs or simple antibiotics or solutions that study DNA in hopes of identifying genetic traits that make people more susceptible to various ailments from heart disease to cancer to diabetes and more. 

I do recognize that these companies have invested heavily in working to come up with a cure for many of these conditions including AIDS.  Their efforts should not be discounted based on a superficial level of greed that manifests after the fact.

I suspect there must be a slightly better middle ground that could be reached if governments and the pharmaceutical companies would work together a little more closely.  Now that more governments are starting to strip patents the pharmaceutical companies need to take action to safeguard their intellectual property.  Governments are seizing that property as they might in an eminent domain proceeding and I think it's only fair that government should consider offering something in exchange for that seizure.

For those negotiations to happen however it will be important for both sides to come to the table prepared to bargain and make progress in this area.  Until that happens to pharmaceutical companies and governments representing people that need the drugs from the R&D departments of these pharmaceutical companies will be pitted against each other as adversaries and no one benefits under that circumstance.

President Clinton's efforts of save some lives and that's definitely a positive thing.  It's not a holistic solution as someone had to be harmed to help another.  President Clinton and the countries of the world need to find a way to solve this problem politically and motivates pharmaceutical companies to find cures without having to prey on people in need after the cures are found. 

Link to Clinton backs violation of Aids drug patents | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

AZCentral Working to Improve Travel Decisions in Arizona

A word for our sponsors . . .

AZCentral.com has been working to improve travel options to Arizona for some time. They started by working to create additional and more functional travel guides for all areas of Arizona from the Grand Canyone to the souther border and everything in between. Recently they have improved the Arizona Travel Guide options by revamping their travel booking engines.

This includes faster processing, more filtering options and more. They have also done some work to include Google Map destination plots and directions within their site. In general, they are hoping to provide travelers with tools that will help them book trips easier and faster. But more importantly they are hoping to offer more options and some local know how about finding those hidden away places throughout the state of Arizona.

Should Google be allowed to Profit from State Records?

Google announced today that they will be partnering with four states to help those states index their vast collection of online databases and resources.  The goal here is that Google will be a will to help states get their permission out to people that need it better and more efficiently.  That makes perfect sense because that's basically what Google does.

Google is not being charged in the money for the service and the states not paying any money for the service.  However Google will make a fortune off of the information.  Google puts advertising to all of their search results and having essentially a monopoly over her the index of the state data will give them an entire section of the Web that no other search engine can access.  They will be the only company that can host advertising there.  It would be similar to a company going in and buying up the state capital and placing ads inside the state capital.

They would then lease these ad placements to any company that wanted to advertise in the state capital.  That's basically what's going to happen online.  Now I'm sure Google will help people find that information easier and faster, but should Google profit off of the states content?  Should Google offer the states have to revenue from that advertising that they are able to place with their content?

Google earns billions of dollars from this type of advertising.  They aren't likely to earn billions from the four states in question here, however they probably will earn a good chunk of money.  In some ways this is similar to a state offering up a logging company the right to go harvest a number of trees without having to pay the state any money for it.  One of the differences is that this is a renewable resource and there are an unlimited number of trees.

Shock and Awe Planner Named in DC Madame Scandal

 Last week Condoleeza Rice's deputy, Randall Tobias had to resign after he initially admitted that he used escorts as messengers.  Later he indicated that he also picked up a massage or two at home.

Now it has been revealed that the man responsible for the combat strategy known as Shock and Awe was also a client of DC Madame Palfrey.  The big question now is who will be next?  ABC news has the Madame's list and copies of her phone records.  Who will the Disney company put out of a job this week?

Howard K. Ullman, a military operative who orchestrated the so-called “shock and awe” combat strategy, has also been named as an ex-client.

Source: Ducking for cover: D.C. braces for madam naming names - U.S. Politics - BostonHerald.com

Where is Real Estate Safe?

A word for our sponsors . . .
One of our sponsors, Dream Home Magazine, issued a release this week. They claim that real estate for homes in the price range of a million dollars plus, is still hot in Southern California counties. Nationally, prices are falling especially on the West coast and in the North East. Prices are falling in Florida and slightly through the rest of the South, where they were not quite as inflated.

Dream Home Magazine claims that san diego real estate in particular is holding steady partly due to the retiree's moving into their dream homes looking for the warm sub tropical climate. That is a similar demographic moving to the south east and Arizona areas as well. However, in the SouthEast you will also find a lot of people moving to that area not just to retire but also following jobs and businesses setting up plants in low tax states. It will be interesting to see if San Diego is actually able to hold out with home prices on the upper end of the scale. A family member recently sold their home in San Diego last summer and they watched the price fall by about 5% while it listed. For buyers that is good news, for sellers, not so good.

Corzine Escapes Darwin Award Nomination

 Governor Corzine has been very fortunate over the last few weeks.  Most importantly he is lucky to be alive.  He was a passenger in an SUV driving 90 miles an hour and was involved in an accident.  He was sitting in the front passenger seat and by law passengers in that seat are required to be buckled in.

Police have determined that a red truck swerved erratically on the interstate and another truck had to swerve to dodge the red truck.  The second truck clipped the governor's vehicle without knowing it in the governor's vehicle at the rail.

The governor was injured the most suffering 11 broken ribs and a broken femur into places.  He was on a ventilator for several days and he still has a significant amount of physical therapy to endure.  He asked for a state forgiveness for setting such a bad example, stating:

"I understand that I set a very poor example for a lot of young people, and people in general," the governor said outside the Cooper University Hospital hospital.

"I hope the state will forgive me," he said.

Source: Corzine: I hope the state will forgive me - CNN.com

On the lighter side he's lucky that he escaped receiving a Darwin award nomination.  It was not only a legal for him not to wear a seatbelt but it was very stupid.  I know several people that worked closely on his campaign, and I know he's not a stupid man.  We can all make stupid decisions at times, however be in such a visible position he's going to have to work very hard to make up for this accident.

No More Incumbents New Jersey

I would like to report on a project I'm associated with called NoMoreIncumbents.org. this group includes a collection of bloggers that is growing to cover all the states throughout the United States. Our collective goal is to help give a louder voice to those candidates that are running against incumbents.
We have a great example of how this is going to work as we develop incumbent profiles at a state level for each blog. That great example is the No More Incumbents New Jersey blog. This was one of the first State blogs that we set up and it's off to a great start.

We are still looking for great writers to cover many of the other states across the country. We are doing all this in preparation for the next election cycle going into 2008. That cycle is already very hot at the presidential level, but hasn't started up yet at a congressional or a state level. We do not have an incumbent running for president this year and so our focus will be on Congress and on the states.