Category: Domestic Affairs,

Drug maker thwarted plan to limit OxyContin prescriptions

On By peanutgallerynhIn Addiction,, Domestic Affairs,, Drugs & Drink,Leave a comment

The warning signs of what would become a deadly opioid epidemic emerged in early 2001. That’s when officials of the state employee health plan in West Virginia noticed a surge in deaths attributed to oxycodone, the active ingredient in the painkiller OxyContin.

They quickly decided to do something about it: OxyContin prescriptions would require prior authorization. It was a way to ensure that only people who genuinely needed the painkiller could get it and that people abusing opioids could not.

But an investigation by STAT has found that Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, thwarted the state’s plan by paying a middleman, known as a pharmacy benefits manager, to prevent insurers from limiting prescriptions of  the drug.

The financial quid pro quo between the painkiller maker and the pharmacy benefits manager, Merck Medco, came to light in West Virginia court records unsealed by a state judge at the request of STAT, and in interviews with people familiar with the arrangement.

Drug maker thwarted plan to limit OxyContin prescriptions

Grrrrrrrrrr

What is the Hatch Act? Harry Reid claims the FBI violated it

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

“I’m writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions violate the Hatch Act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election,” Reid wrote.

He accused Comey of having close ties with Republican nominee Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government, which Trump has repeatedly named throughout his campaign and in the last presidential debate.

…The FBI did not immediately respond to questions regarding potential violations of the Hatch Act.

What is the Hatch Act? The law Harry Reid claims the FBI violated – NY Daily News

hmmm

Bush Admin Just Got Involved In FBI’s Probe Into Clinton’s Emails And It’s Game Changing 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

The Hatch Act specifically prohibits government officials, with the exception of the President, the Vice President and a handful of others from engaging in political activities. Painter is particularly concerned about the fact that FBI director James Comey has made comments about Hillary Clinton in the past, such as his statement that Clinton’s handling of classified information was “extremely careless.”

Bush Admin Just Got Involved In FBI’s Probe Into Clinton’s Emails And It’s Game Changing (IMAGE) – New Century Times

hmmm

These Korean Adoptees Grew Up Like Typical American Kids. Then They Learned They Weren’t Citizens. 

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Modern Parenting,, Race,Leave a comment

These Korean Adoptees Grew Up Like Typical American Kids. Then They Learned They Weren’t Citizens. | The Nation

This is an absolute crime against some of of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. This needs to be fixed right the fuck now, for ever child who was ever adopted into the United States. Period.

Mass. cop’s wife faked home robbery, blamed Black Lives Matter, police say 

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

The house had been tagged with graffiti that appeared to reference the Black Lives Matter movement, which Maria Daly said had been left by the alleged intruders

Mass. cop’s wife faked home robbery, blamed Black Lives Matter, police say – CBS News

Exonerated or not the optics of this are terrible. The officer should be suspended without pay as along as he lives in the same residence with this woman.

Flint Must Seek Permission From Rick Snyder Appointed Board Before Suing Rick Snyder

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Environment,, Local Interest,Leave a comment

The Flint Receivership Transition Advisory Board passed a resolution on March 31 eliminating the city administrator’s ability to initiate litigation without first getting approval from the board. Flint’s Receivership Transition Advisory Board, or RTAB, was put in place to have veto power on budgets after the city’s last emergency manager left town in April 2015. The panel’s members are all appointees of Snyder. The board’s action came seven days after the city of Flint filed a notice in the state Court of Claims preserving its right to sue the state over the city’s water becoming contaminated with toxic lead.

Flint Must Seek Permission From Rick Snyder Appointed Board Before Suing Rick Snyder | The Intellectualist

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Trump: ‘We should just cancel the election’ and declare me the winner

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,Leave a comment

The apparently lighthearted comment falls against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated and serious questioning of the legitimacy of the presidential election in recent weeks as he has tumbled in the polls.

Trump has called the election “rigged,” argued that the media and establishment politicians are conspiring to sink his campaign and warned supporters that the presidency could be stolen from them due to voter fraud — instances of which are extremely rare.

Trump: ‘We should just cancel the election’ and declare me the winner – CNNPolitics.com

Sigh….

Episcopal Church Executive Council stands with Standing Rock

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Religion,, The Americas,Leave a comment

[Episcopal News Service – New Brunswick, New Jersey] The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council asked Oct. 22 that law-enforcement officials “de-escalate military and police provocation in and near the campsites of peaceful protest and witness of the Dakota Access Pipeline project.”

…The Rev. John Floberg, council member and supervising priest of the Episcopal churches on the North Dakota side of Standing Rock, told the council’s Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy and Networking for Mission Oct. 21 that the way the protest has been conducted has been “the most powerful experience I have had in my 25 years on Standing Rock.” And, yet, he said, he has been shaken by the racist responses that the protest has generated elsewhere in the state.

… The resolution asks the Episcopal Church at all levels to prayerfully and financially support the planned winter encampment, which it says is the Sioux Nation’s “right for peaceful assembly and protest.”

On the closing day of the meeting, Floberg presented to the Archives of the Episcopal Church housed in Austin, Texas, the now-tattered Episcopal Church flag that flew over the Oceti Skowin Camp in North Dakota for months. The flag, he said, was the only Christian church flag among the 300 flags of tribal nations that flew over the peaceful-protest encampment.

…The Episcopal Church’s entry into the protest is rooted in its 2009 repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, Curry said. “Part of that action was to say we have got to find more just, equitable and fair ways of being in relationship with our brothers and sisters in the Native communities in our country,” the presiding bishop said.

Episcopal Church Executive Council stands with Standing Rock

hmmmm

Police, Officials Resign After Small Missouri Town Elects First Black Female Mayor 

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Chick Stuff,, Gulf Coast Region,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

Most of the police force and several officials resigned after the small town of Parma, Missouri elected its first African American woman as mayor,

Police, Officials Resign After Small Missouri Town Elects First Black Female Mayor | Huffington Post

In other news outlets the former chief is shrilly screaming up and down that he is not a racist. He cries about how as a public official whose contact info and residence are public information as if this is a new development instead of a condition of his career.He makes slyly disparaging and blatantly racist generalization about the mayor’s family.

In other words, this little piggie cried, “weh, weh, weh,” all  the way to his indisputably bigoted home.

Trump Finally Pissed Off the Wrong Women. All of Them.

On By peanutgallerynhIn Chick Stuff,, Domestic Affairs,, Media and Culture,Leave a comment

Elizabeth Warren swirling the word “nasty” around in her mouth like a sommelier enjoying a fine wine only served as the latest reminder to a certain Trumpy flavor of man that, at this point in the 2016 campaign, women don’t need their approval to exist, or even to succeed. In Tina Fey’s 2011 memoir Bossypants, the comedy maven recounted an exchange between former SNL castmates Jimmy Fallon and Amy Poehler. The story goes that Amy told a dirty joke, and Jimmy fired back that he didn’t like it. Amy responded, “I don’t fucking care if you like it.” [emphasis: mine] Fey advises all women in the workplace to conduct themselves similarly: do what you want, fuck ‘em if they disagree.

The world has coddled Donald Trump into believing that women who have somehow failed to meet his antiquated standards of femininity should feel chastened. Men like Trump expect women to feel like failures when a man calls them anything less than pretty, sexy, pleasant, nice. But the world outside of Trump Tower has been moving at a much faster pace than the creaky machinery between Trump’s ears. In the voting booth, compliance is optional. Deference to the whims of men is unnecessary, if not undesirable.

Trump Finally Pissed Off the Wrong Women. All of Them. – The Daily Beast

hmmmm