Day: May 30, 2018

Remember That Opioid Abuse Thingy?

Closing Thought–30May18

Since 2016 there has been a big push to end the opioid abuse problem this country is having…..seem that overdose deaths are increase and something needs to be done….

One of the most abused drugs is “Oxy” and the maker of that drug has made the news….news they probably would have wanted to keep to themselves…..

The company behind OxyContin may have a little secret—that it knew early on about people abusing its powerful painkilling drug and said nothing, the New York Times reports. Purdue Pharma executives received reports of “significant” abuse soon after Oxycontin’s 1996 release, including people stealing and snorting the drug, according to a confidential Justice Department report. But when a four-year federal probe recommended felony charges against three senior Purdue Pharma executives, Justice officials in George W. Bush’s administration didn’t back the strategy and opted to settle in 2007. Three executives took sole responsibility, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor “misbranding” charge, and with the company paid $634.5 million in fines.

The Times chronicles OxyContin’s journey through the marketplace, from its questionable FDA approval to Purdue salespeople claiming OxyContin was less addictive than other opioids (despite its high narcotic levels). Reports emerged of Oxycontin’s predecessor drug, MS Contin, being abused, and by 1999 Purdue officials apparently learned that OxyContin was called “the hottest thing on the street—forget Vicodin.” Then came the 2007 case, which Justice officials called a win, while others saw an opportunity lost. “It would have been a turning point,” says a former DEA official. “It would have sent a message to the entire drug industry.” Meanwhile drug companies fueled the opioid crisis by sending pills to areas plagued by drug abuse, supplying West Virginia with enough to give each person 433 pills over a five-year period, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports.

Does this really surprise anyone?  This company had enough money to buy their way out of this situation……does not surprise me in the least.

Stay tuned for more stories on the developing saga of the Chase of Opioid Abuse.

The “Pink and Greens”

I bet right now you are thinking that this is some sort of Code Pink and the Green Party collaboration…..well you would be sadly mistaken…..this is about the new colors for the uniforms of the military…..Pink?

Not long ago the US Army replaced the green dress uniforms with a dark blue….which was stupid for the Air Force has blue uniforms….the Army distinction was gone…..now they are at it again……

Army leadership has been saying for months that a decision on bringing back the World War II-era pinks and greens uniform was due this spring, but with May underway, officials say a decision is still forthcoming.

In the meantime, Marlow White has been building excitement about the prospect of a new service uniform, creating a prospective rollout timeline it last updated on May 2.

The release pegs Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley making a final decision on the uniform and its fielding plan by Nov. 11, with several events leading up to that.

One is a wear test during spring or summer of this year by a recruiting battalion, followed by ― if Milley approves ― an initial rollout next June, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/05/14/is-this-the-rollout-plan-for-the-pinks-and-greens-the-army-says-nothing-is-final/

Again?

If I recall correctly the army changed uniforms just 5 or so years ago….so why not spend some of the land fall funds that the Pentagon seems to get whether they want it or not.

What was wrong with the Army green dress uniform?  Not a damn thing…..so did we really need to waste tax payers money?

A question for the ages.

The Impeachment Trial

There comes a time when the actions of a sitting president make it necessary for the Congress to act to impeach the person for the good of the country.

Good God…..Do not get your pants in a twist….this is not about some Trump crap…this is a history of the impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson…

In May, 1868, the Senate came within a single vote of taking the unprecedented step of removing a president from office.  Although the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson was ostensibly about a violation of the Tenure of Office Act, it was about much more than that.  Also on trial in 1868 were Johnson’s lenient policies towards Reconstruction and his vetoes of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act.  The trial was, above all else, a political trial.

Andrew Johnson was a lifelong Democrat and slave owner who won a place alongside Abraham Lincoln on the 1864 Republican ticket in order to gain the support of pro-war Democrats.  Johnson was fiercely pro-Union and had come to national prominence when, as a Senator from the important border state of Tennessee, he denounced secession as “treason.”

On April 11, 1865, Abraham Lincoln gave his last major address.  Lincoln congratulated Lee on his surrender, announced that his cabinet was united on a policy of reconstructing the Union, and expressed the hope that the states of the confederacy would extend the vote to literate negroes and those who served as Union soldiers.  Then came the tragic events at the Ford Theater.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/imp_account2.html

History is fascinating……learn something today!

It’s On! Again?

Waited…..will this be over or will they pull the summit out of the rubble?

Off again, on again…the Korea Summit appears to be back on tract again.  I will admit I was quick to jump on the chance that it might fail….I may have been mistaken to do so….with that said the news is that the plans are being made for the summit to go forward and the president is his usual talkative self…..

A US team is in North Korea to plan a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to President Trump, raising expectations that the on-off-on meeting will indeed take place. Both the State Department and South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the American and North Korean officials have been engaged in talks at the Korean village of Panmunjom, which straddles the border inside the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ. One can cross the border simply by stepping across a painted line, but moving beyond several footsteps into the North at Panmunjom would be rare for US officials, the AP reports.

Trump withdrew from a planned June 12 Singapore summit with Kim last Thursday, but quickly announced it could still happen. His tweet Sunday afternoon, which offered praise for the longtime US adversary, was the latest signal that his concerns about the North’s stance toward the summit had been allayed. “Our United States team has arrived in North Korea to make arrangements for the Summit between Kim Jong Un and myself,” he tweeted. “I truly believe North Korea has brilliant potential and will be a great economic and financial Nation one day. Kim Jong Un agrees with me on this. It will happen!”

The huge term being batted around for this summit is Denuclearization….(not a recognized word but what the Hell)….

South Korean president seemed to have saved this summit from disastrous end…..and he assures the US that NK is serious…..

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has given new comments following Saturday’s surprise summit with Kim Jong-un, saying the two agree about wanting to see the Kim-Trump summit happen as planned on June 12. President Trump cancelled the summit last week, but has since suggested it may happen after all.

Moon says Kim reiterated to him his support for a deal on Korea-wide denuclearization, as well as a commitment to meet President Trump. South Korea was instrumental in getting the Trump-Kim summit set up in the first place.

(antiwar.com)

There is that word again……Denuclearization.

Hopefully Kim is not a student of history or this dream will be nothing more than a new word for the lexicon.

Why would I say such a downer of a thing?

I kinda want to pee on the parade……just think back about 20 years ago then forward think after that……

Libya and its “denuclearization”…….a graphic from my friends at Geopolitical Futures and their fine work……

Kim may want to take this under consideration before he inks any deals…..the thought of no nukes on the Korean Peninsula may be a good idea it could be a death sentence for Kim…not that anyone would cry…..

There ks a reason that leaders need to be informed and know their history….they could live a bit longer.

Just a thought.