The item on every plugged-in tween’s holiday wish list is frequently manufactured with faulty/substandard parts, and as a result could explode at any time. [ more › ]
Monthly Archives: December 2015
Being an American Has Never Meant Giving Up Who You Are | whitehouse.gov
America is not one creed or color, one dish or accent; it is a collection of people, three hundred million strong, each with their own tales of migration and adaptation. Being an American has never meant giving up who you are to become something else. It means using the sum of your parts to establish communities, build your livelihood, reimagine your identity, and grow your dreams. It means that even though there are imperfections in the immigration experience, they are always eclipsed by the overwhelming sense of possibility that makes our nation great.It also means that an automotive engineer and his wife can proudly pledge their allegiance to this country, and that their daughter, who once looked up at planes in the sky in Karachi, can now look out onto the White House lawn and thank her parents for their pursuit of the American Dream.Asra NajamPresidential Writer
Source: Being an American Has Never Meant Giving Up Who You Are | whitehouse.gov
Yahoo Shareholders Propose Plan To Cut 9,000 Jobs: SFist Greenmail deja vu with little care for people who would be fired to give them more money and power – trash men
Now another activist investor, New York hedge fund SpringOwl, has sent a lengthy 99-slide presentation — or list of demands, really — to Yahoo’s board. In order to save $2 billion a year, they argue, the company should lay off 9,000 employees, reducing staff to 3,000 full-time employees and contractors.
Source: Yahoo Shareholders Propose Plan To Cut 9,000 Jobs: SFist
Garbage Human Martin Shkreli Once Again Plans To Massively Raise Cost Of Lifesaving Drug: SFist
Much reviled pharma guy Martin Shkreli has yet again revealed himself to be operating from a place of questionable morality. The 70 percent owner of South San Francisco-based KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced plans to increase the two-month treatment price of a lifesaving drug from $100 to an estimated $80,000.Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals was in the news earlier this year, when the founder announced he would raise the price of a drug used by AIDS patients to treat parasitic infections from $13.50 to $750 per pill.Tech Times notes that the more recently proposed price increase, announced in an investor conference call last week, would target a drug used to treat Chagas disease, a particular parasitic infection that can be fatal.The two-month course of the drug, benznidazole, is currently available at the cost of $50 to $100 in Latin America, notes the Times, but at present is only available in the United States directly from the Centers for Disease Control (the CDC makes the drug available for free).Shkreli’s move, suggests the New York Times, is part of a larger scheme to acquire a FDA voucher for expediting the review process of another drug. By bringing benznidazole to the US commercial market, albeit at an exorbitant rate, Shkreli would be eligible for a voucher originally intended as a reward to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for neglected diseases. His company could then sell this voucher (vouchers have sold for as much as $350 million, notes the New York Times) to another pharmaceutical company.“It’s caused a lot of angst in the Chagas community,” says Dr. Sheba Meymandi, the director of a Chagas treatment center. “Everyone’s in an uproar.”It is estimated that 300,000 people in the United States suffer the disease.
Source: Garbage Human Martin Shkreli Once Again Plans To Massively Raise Cost Of Lifesaving Drug: SFist
We’re Getting A Rare “Full Cold Moon” On Christmas Night: Gothamist
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, December’s full moon is called a Full Cold Moon—”it is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark.” They also claim that “if a snowstorm begins when the moon is young, it will cease at moonrise.” They have no predictions for what will happen when we’re experiencing springtime temperatures during a Full Cold Moon, however, so we’re in uncharted waters with this one.
Source: We’re Getting A Rare “Full Cold Moon” On Christmas Night: Gothamist
LAPD: It’s Too Easy To Criticize The LAUSD Shutdown With Hindsight
“It’s also easy to criticize a decision when you have no responsibility for the outcome of that decision.” [ more › ]
Saudi Arabia says it will head Muslim counterterrorism coalition
Riyadh says 34 countries have pledged to join its new Islamic military coalition aimed at combating terrorism. Those that have signed up to join the cause include Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries.
Pope Francis urges countries to review laws on refugees, migrants
Laws on migration should “reflect a readiness to welcome migrants and to facilitate their integration,” according to the Argentine pontiff. He was speaking as thousands seek entry to the EU, many via Italy.
Poland takes to the streets
Poland’s society is split over the new national conservative government’s policies like it hasn’t been in years. By the thousands, people are taking to the streets in nationwide protests.
Scottish island prepares for Syrian refugees
The Scottish town Rothesay on the Isle of Bute may not be a premier holiday destination but that won’t bother its new, and unusual, arrivals – around 60 Syrian refugees. Peter Geoghegan went along to take a look.


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