Just another nerd.
You know, I’m always looking to make more money, but I think I’m going to be in trouble when my boss finds out that I’ve been moonlighting at River City Toyota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’m currently listed as the contact person there for a boycott against Sinclair Group. Apparently I do a lot of advertising for my Toyota dealership on a Minneapolis TV station owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Well that clears up that mystery.
In case you haven’t heard, the Sinclair Broadcast group, which owns about 60 television stations, is going to basically run an hour-long anti-Kerry program. Originally reports said they were simply going to run the anti-Kerry film “Stolen Honor”, but now they’ve expanded that to say it’s some sort of pseudo-news program about Kerry’s actions after he returned from Vietnam and protested the war.
Here’s the weird thing — people are sending me e-mails about this as if I have some connection withe Sinclair or some group opposing the broadcast. Messages that go like this,
Dear Brian,
Just want you to know that I do not support River City Toyota’s advertising on the local Sinclair Broadcast Group station (KMWB). I think the station is crossing the line from news stories to one-sided politically-charged “documentaries.” I think this programming needs to be balanced by the rest of the story. Scheduling the “documentary” on John Kerry at this time is a politically motivated move.
I assume that one of my evil twins — one of the number of other Brian Carnells in the United States — has said something about this and people are Googling my name and sending me e-mail.
So for the record, I have nothing to do with the Sinclair Group and don’t really have a problem with the broadcast they are planning — those who do, especially those in the Kerry campaign issuing threats, need to reread the First Amendment. Frankly, I almost never watch anything but cable stations anyway.
The whole reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada issues is a bit odd because it tends to reverse traditional political views. Democrats who complain about the horrors of outsourcing jobs and the evils of free trade suddenly find themselves on the side of free trade across the Canadian border. Republicans who are nominally the party of free trade suddenly find themselves talking like anti-globalization activists about the dangers of weak safety standards in countries where the drugs might be made (and, as Clark Venable notes, it’s misleading to claim that the reimported drugs are made in America or Canada).
I am a free trader, a fan of the pharmaceutical industry and an ardent supporter of reimportation. Clark Venable quotes from a New England Journal of Medicine article that purports to make the case against reimportation, but really offers up the main reason to support it,
The mass exportation of prescription medication to the United States threatens the preferential pricing set by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.2 Companies may also choose not to market medication in Canada in order to protect the larger and more lucrative U.S. market.3 At risk is nothing less than the ability of countries to set their own policy regarding pharmaceuticals. The availability of Canadian medication is not a viable long-term solution to the problems of drug costs in the United States and represents a substantial threat to the access and affordability of drugs in Canada.
Yes, absolutely — this is precisely what needs to happen to bring sanity back to prescription drug pricing.
The current situation is quite simple. Canada tells a pharmaceutical manufacturer that it will only buy a drug at say $2/pill. The manufacturer says fine, we’ll make that up by charging American consumers $4/pill. The end result is that Americans end up subsidizing Canada’s system of socialized medicine. They get all the benefits of the lower price, while Americans pay the price in higher prices and also to a certain extent a penalty that discourages innovative new products (since in order for a product to be truly profitable, a company has to be able to sustain high prices in the U.S. market, so there is a disincentive to develop products that might be profitable if there were a market system in other countries rather than only in the United States).
As the NEJM notes, allowing reimportation of drugs will go along way to busting up that system which is a very good thing for Americans. Canadians (and other countries for that matter) must know that they cannot be free riders on American consumers forever. If their governments are going to continue to demand below market prices from drug companies, they are going to have to face a tradeoff of important medications being withdrawn or not being made available at all.
It should also be pointed out that the U.S. government also artificially inflates the cost of drugs with requirements that companies sell drugs to Medicare at the lowest rate they are sold for in the United States. Hmmmm…so if a company offers a subgroup a discounted price, it has to offer the government that same discounted price. Guess how pharmaceutical companies decide to price drugs given those incentives.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader Bonnie-Jill Laflin to the Museum of Sex (I’m not making this up) in New York City to showcase the animal rights groups latest anti-rodeo poster,
Dan Mathews summed up PETA’s approach, telling The New York Daily News, “We like to keep the ‘T’ and ‘A’ in PETA.” And not much else, apparently.
Laflin told the New York Daily News, emphasis added,
I don’t want to be crude, but basically they stick electric prods up their [butts], and put straps down in their sensitive areas, poking them and everything to make them buck. If you got a spur jabbed into your side, you’re probably gonna move a little, too.
Oh yeah, after seeing that poster it’d be really difficult to consider Laflin being crude.
Sheila Lehrke of the International Professional Rodeo Association gave the proper response to PETA’s silly antics, saying,
I really have a hard time making a comment on the kind of campaigns PETA runs. They’re so contrived for response and so far off base from what we’re really talking about.
Source:
Nudie in a haystack. Lloyd Grove, New York Daily News, September 21, 2004.
The Jackson County Commission in Michigan earned the wrath of animal rights activists when it voted in late August to continue its practice of selling unclaimed pound animals to class B dealers as well as directly to the University of Michigan and Michigan State University for research purposes.
Commissioners Jim Videto had moved to have the county’s Animal Control Manager draft a policy to ban the sale of animals to class B dealers or directly to research institutions. According to the minutes of the meeting,
Moved by Videto supported by Lacinski to Move to Direct the Animal Control Manager to Draft a Policy to Prohibit Sales of Live Animals to Class B Dealers. Brittain asked how many people in the audience were from Leoni 1,2,3, & 4. Brittain stated that he never received one call from his constituents against the sale of animals, but he did receive 3 calls from people in support of the sale of animals to class B dealers. Mahoney supports MSU and feels there is a distinction between legitimate research, not experimentation. Elwell is in favor of selling animals, but it should be restricted. Day stated that he was here 14 years ago facing this same issue and voted against banning selling animals for research. If it werenÂ’t for the pig valve in his heart, he probably wouldnÂ’t be here now. Wilson thanked the audience for their participation in this emotional issue. He voiced concern that by stopping the sale we may be putting someoneÂ’s life in jeopardy. ItÂ’s up to the Board to separate facts from emotions. Wilson will be supporting ElwellÂ’s alternate motion. Lacinski supports VidetoÂ’s motion to prohibit the selling of live animals to class B dealers. Berkemeier said that he appreciated everyone being here tonight, but that there are many people involved with animals that have no objection to the sale of animals for research. The Board hears from people everywhere, not just here. He tried to review all of the information and found that 40%-80% of the animals at the shelter are either taken there by the owner, or abandon. Berkemeier will be supporting ElwellÂ’s alternate motion and believes in tracking the animals that are being sold to hospitals and medical facilities.
The commission then voted on the measure which failed 9-3. Supporters of the policy of selling unclaimed animals to class B dealers or research facilities then proposed that the Director of Animal Control draft a policy dealing with the sale of live animals which would continue to allow such sales but require class B dealers to document to whom the animals are eventually sold,
Moved by Elwell supported by Wilson to Direct the Director of Animal Control, with the assistance of the County Administrator, to develop a policy and agreement that deals with the sale of live animals.
Agreement shall be signed by Hodgins Kennels, or any other class “B” dealer that we sell live animals to. Said agreement shall specifically list who they can sell live animals to that came from Jackson County Animal Control. The list of such facilities may be added to (or limited), only by approval of County Agencies.
Said agreement shall contain the requirement that monthly reports be provided to the Jackson County Animal Control that clearly details which specific animals are going where, and it be in a manner that allows further tracking after the research facility is done with the animal. Jackson County Animal Control shall specify the format for said report.
All tags on dogs when they come in to Jackson County Animal Control hall remain with the dog at all times, including when a dog passes from the class ”B” dealer to an approved facility. The above noted report shall also note what tags are on the dogs.
Jackson County Animal Control shall maintain said records in a manner that is easily tracked. Copies of the records shall be available under FOIA, with a report submitted to County Agencies six months after implementation of this plan.
Commissioners shall be allowed unannounced visits to class “B” dealers Jackson County sells animals to. Such visits shall be allowed during the week, during daytime hours.
Adoptions of animals are encouraged, as are transfers to facilities such as the Cascade Humane Society.
Direct sales of live animals to specific research facilities such as Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, and other such facilities as designated in this policy, shall be continued, where it is desired by the facilities and by Jackson County.
This motion passed 11-1. Commissioner Robert Lacinski, who voted for the ban, was the lone commissioner who voted against drafting a new policy dealing with the sale of live animals.
According to the Jackson Citizen-Patriot, although is legal for animal shelters to sell animals to research facilities in Michigan, 75 other Michigan counties ban the practice. Jackson County has been allowed the selling of animals to research facilities for the last 35 years.
Sources:
County does not ban sale of strays. Brian Wheeler, The Jackson Citizen Patriot, August 25, 2004.
Archaic Michigan Commissioners Vote to Sell Strays for Vivisection. Press Release, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, August 2004.