Grateful Dead

Scary. Hate to inform you Slo, but the Network news has been reporting on this subject for two years -- probably since the closure of Pfizer's lab. Every three months or so they have another story of impending catastrophe. Staying away from your local hospital is highly advised if you can possibly do it. Why doesn't Congress appropriate 40 Billion or so to the CDC to set up it's own lab and surge up a dozen or so new antibiotics?

does anybody watch Frontline on PBS? Some of the very best reporting on specific topics anywhere, imo. At your leisure, try to make some time to watch "Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria" pbs.org/frontline. It is a current event that affects all of us and our loved ones. This show is a two-parter with part two to be broadcast in the Spring of '14. The end of effective antibiotics is here, it's worldwide and it's deadly serious; you'll be glad to know that the very last dedicated super-research facility for antibiotic drugs in the US was in Connecticut and it was closed in 2011 by its owner, Pfizer, due to "portfolio management decisions". In other words, Pfizer's investors "demanded return on investment"; boner and (life-saving)cholesterol pills do just that, life-saving antibiotics do not, however. (Although, to their credit, Pfizer was the last research company to fold its antibiotic division. Their competitors had done so years in advance for the same reason, not enough ROI). Part 1 focuses on three specific cases and the origins of the bacteria and bacterial genes which currently have complete resistance to ALL known antibiotics EVER developed anywhere in the world. It also gets into the economics of drug development ie., what a human life is worth. Part 2 will focus on the incredible overuse of antibiotics in our food supply and, more specifically, what it is doing to the animals we eat and, ultimately, ourselves. I'm cynically assuming that when a prominent Senator's loses a loved one in a US hospital from one of these infections, which, by the way, is exactly where these are becoming more frequently contracted, investigations will ensue and we'll all get to hear about the shocking lack of funding and research on the 5:30 national news. Before that happens though, you can catch it on Frontline.

absolutely! creme patissiere is a nightmare, darling. but thanks for your comments on the two articles. really insightful... oh, and my upmost sympathy for growing up with a Catholic anything; my heart goes out to you.

The stimulus will give out on November 15th for SNAP (Food Stamps) and the program will lose 39 billion dollars. I am watching Senator Pat Leahy of VT right now say that there will be NO Farm Bill this year (with subsidies for big food producers) if this cut stays in place. We have House minority whip Eric Cantor to blame for these cuts. There is already hunger in this country. Hunger everywhere, in the most surprising places as well as the islands of third world poverty some Indian Reservations have become. Children are the future of this country. There aren't enough of them and we need those there are to be highly educated. Instead, they will be stunted in their growth from the cut in food stamps. It's not just food stamps. It's also voter registration, Section 8 housing; Aid to Families with Dependent Children. Every program designed to help the poor. Meanwhile the wealthy and large corporations benefit massively from tax loopholes you could drive an aircraft carrier through! Money is wasted horrendously on weapons that are needless but funded because jobs have been apportioned to all districts in the 50 states for maximum Congressional support. America has spent more in Iraq and Afghanistan, per capita, in the last 15 years on all things (the least being direct economic aid), mostly on deadly weaponry and our troops and our support for them -- THAN WE HAVE SPENT ON OUR OWN POOR. What is wrong with this country? What basic human empathy do we lack? How can the Congress turn it's back on it's own poor constituents while lining their filthy pockets with the bribes of the rich! How much coke and heroin and pain pills and tranquilizers do they have to absorb to be this numb and inhuman? Tell me how these people claim to follow the purported Son of God named Jesus who preached help for the poor? There is not just a special place in hell for these revolving 535 - they each have VIP boxes and merit greater special attention from the devil's helpers! Time will pass oh so slowly for them as they suffer these sins. This rant is far from over but I'm calling it a week today. Enjoy the Fall Classic if you're so inclined.

Not Ending. The protagonist is named Ender. I need to get around to reading that one of these days too.

Go BoSox...

'What year is this?''It's 2013, mate.' 'Really?' 'Yes.' http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/22/great-british-bake… http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/21/great-british-bake… Sadly indicative of society today. Never to be served with a slice of cake.

I meant to mention this yesterday, but does anyone here watch the Marvel superhero movies or the new TV series, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."? If you do, and if you were watching this past Tuesday, you may have noticed a little current events name-dropping; our recent information leakers Mr./Ms. Manning and Mr. Snowden got something on an honorable nod. I'm sure it beats having a lingerie ad campaign sponsored in your honor...or does it?

"...caring almost to the point of derangement about your creme patissiere is the whole point of Bake-Off" Really, Mr. Lard? Reminds of Better Midler, Glen Close and Nicole Kidmann in "The Stepford Wives". I grew up in the Catholic version.

I happen to agree with you. The only question that remains is whether or not nation-states, who feel compelled to wage war, find it much less costly in blood & treasure to do it with drones. They do. Also, in the kind of low-intensity conflict now being fought in which the enemy hides around the unknowing civilian population the method of war is seen as the most humane. It may well be. However... I agree wholeheartedly with you that every innocent victim creates an entire family, clan and tribe against the offending country. There couldn't be a better recruiting tool. Thanks for the recommendation of "The Kingdom" and "Ending Game", I'll be sure to put them on my bucket list. I can't help but recalling the naming of Iran's drone a couple years ago -- "Ambassador Of Death"... What's next "Diplomat of Doom"? "Envoy of Entropy"? "Counsel of Cremation"? That was around the time that the Chinese hacked one of our drones and had it land in Iran. The US was forced to ask politely for it's Reeper drone back. Iran's answer was the launch of it's bright red "Ambassador".