Today is turning into a no good, icky, bad, bad day ....is it time to go back to bed yet????

Maybe I'm missing something here...

The Keiser Network has linked a story this morning about how big pharmaceutical companies are lobbying congress not to pass the generic drug bill. I have not seen the TV ads that Phrma (the lobbiers) are running and I hope I don't. How horrible to capitalize on the sympathies of people for critically ill children so that big pharm can pad their pockets a little more. As I understand it, the basic jist of this bill is that there would be a shortened patent time for new perscription drugs. The shortened patent would allow for generic subsitutes to become available quicker. Phrma is arguing that generic drugs don't ever offer improvements and innovations in medical care..this is ture they don't, what they do is they allow more people access to the medications. I've seen first hand how people, even some with perscription insurance, are prevented from access to the drugs that could help them because of their high prices. Isn't allowing broader access an improvement in medical care? Generic drugs are the EXACTLY the same chemically as their brand name cousins however they are significantly cheaper to the patient and the insurance companies. Phrma is claiming that if the patent time is shortened it will inhibit R&D of new drugs and new cures. I presume the implication here is that there wouldn't be the money to fund the R&D because of the decreased profits caused by generics. It's a tough game. R&D is expensive and takes years to complete but we have a huge healthcare crisis in our country caused in part by the high prices of perscription drugs....there has to be a solution...limiting patent times is at least a solution, but it might cause more damage if the drug companies stop producing new drugs because they can't recoup their costs. Patent limits might not be the perfect solution but it is a partial one.

Reason 86 why I hate living in Iowa

The Humidity!! It is unreal outside, and inside my house, right now. We have high humidity in this state on a normal day, but today it's unbelievable because it's been raining pretty much constantly for the last 24 hours and there is no end in sight. So, with 24 hours of water falling from the skies the humidity is out of control. I am cursed, I mean blessed, with naturally curly hair that I like to straighten...an impossible feat in this climate. Winter cannot get here soon enough.

Here is a great place to daydream....

Stuck at work...

So here I am...stuck at work again...I am babysitting our month-end computer purge. Of course it needs to be noted that closing the month is not my job. But, because of an illness and a vacation day for the people who are responsible for it I am stuck here working another 10+ hour day....

Anyways...it's given me plenty of time to play on the web in the last hour or so and I have come across some crazy things out in webland. First, I just made purchases at BN.com and Amazon.com. It amazes me how different their prices can be from each other. BN had one of the books I wanted for $8 less than Amazon and Amazon had the other two books I wanted for $15 dollars (total) less than BN. It's weird, but I guess it pays to "shop around" when making a purchase...so keep that in mind fellow shoppers!

It is official...Iowa basketball player Pierre Pierce has been suspended indefinitly from the Iowa basketball team due to his arrest this morning on sexual assault charges. This is the last thing we need. It leave us with 8 players...2 of which foul out early in every game. If we have an injury of any kind we are completely screwed. In order to scrimage against ourselves in our Black and Gold Basketball Blowout (season premiere event for fans) we are brining in two high school players. This is pathetic. We were preseason top 10 last year and successfully blew our season with a full squad of players...what the heck are we going to do with 8? Suit up the water boys?

SUCCESS!! I just programmed Excel to do something that I've needed it to do for months! The command was right there the whole time....Thanks Dad!

Ok...I am babbling...I think it's been too long of a day. So I'm signing off to head home and clean my house, see my wonderful husband and eat some Tacos!!! OLE!

Keeping my fingers crossed...
Rumor has it that the Iowa Basketball team is going to suffer a significant blow this morning as one of our star players turns himself in on sexual assault charges, and another star player turns himself in on other charges. We'll be down to 7 players if both these guys are suspended. This is so painful....

Happy 31st Birthday Walt Disney World!!!

My thoughts for a hot-sticky Monday afternoon....

The Iowa Hawkeyes Defeat of The Penn State Nitany Lions:
I made a public spectacle of myself on behalf of my beloved Hawks this Saturday afternoon. My Mom and I were having a girls day shopping while Dad and Jeff golfed. I managed to watch the first quarter before we left for the store. It was incredible. We just jumped on PSU from the sound of the gun...17-0 in the first quarter. We were on fire. I didn't see the 2nd or 3rd quarter, but I did run into a TV at the Great Indoorsduring the 4th quarter so I was able to watch the important part of the game. When I saw the TV at first it was 35-13 with 7:00 on the clock. No PROBLEM I thought...this is great! We're going to put them away and get on the road for Pasadena. I walked away and came back a few minutes later. We let them score...twice...and a 2-point conversion...are you kidding me??? Well, we're still winning, all we have to do is hold them for the last 1:20 of the game, we can do that right? WRONGO! We let them score again...I started sweating, literally. I was under so much stress you would've thought I was on the field in Happy Valley, or I was having cardiac arrest. I couldn't move from the TV. People around me in the store were staring at me. They were there shopping for TV's and leather couches and here I am parked behind a couch cussing out the TV that they are interested in purchasing (I hope I didn't cost the Great Indoors too many sales....) I couldn't walk away, anything could happen...we'd let them rally off a 22-0 tying run in less than 7 minutes. So I stood there with my Mother and watched the OT. Thankfully for me and the GI it only lasted one period, the Hawks, bless their hearts, scored a touchdown and then held PSU from scoring on their possession and we won the game. My mother actually shrieked when we won the game and I had to remind her that we were in the middle of a store and NOT at a bar!
I am expecting great things of this football team. However, their inability to put teams away is a little nerve wracking. I hope we're working that into our game plan. If we can put teams on the shelf once we're up on them by 20+ points we'll be sunning in Pasadena on January 1.

Iowa State
As much as it pains me to say, I need to give props to Iowa State for the outstanding football team they are fielding this year. They handled Nebraska with beauty on Saturday afternoon, and knocked them out of the rankings. I hate Nebraska. So congrats to Iowa State!

Congressmen in Iraq
I thought I was hearing things when I tuned in WGN radio this morning and they were finishing a story on three US congressmen visiting Baghdad. Since WGN broadcasts from Chicago (200 miles away) the reception in my car is a little fuzzy, but you can still understand what they are talking about. I thought that through the fuzz I must have misheard this story and they moved onto the next story about the Ag Show in Cuba. It wasn't until I read a quip in someone else's blog this morning that I realized that what I heard was true according to CNN. Three democratic senators jumped themselves a plane and took off for a pleasure trip to Baghdad. Are they crazy? Going to Baghdad to see first hand what the conditions are like under the UN sanctions doesn't make you a better politician. Trying to rationalize with the Iraqi government is simply not going to happen, especially if you aren't the head of state or the UN or something like that. At first I thought I wouldn't be surprised if these guys didn't make it out of there alive. But Saddam is too smart for that. He wouldn't kill three of our dumb senators because we'd instantly bomb him back to the stone age. Regardless if they make it home safe or not...I think these guys are completely crazy for going there.

Torricelli Quitting?
NPR reported this morning that the crooked senator from NJ might be quitting today...doesn't that just SCREAM guilt?
Washington Post is reporting this afternoon that this is a fact...check it out.

Havana Agriculture Show
Maybe this is a sign that I've lived in the Midwest too long...but I am fascinated by the Havana Agriculture Show sponsored by Illinois based Archer Daniels Midland Corp. This is the first Food trade show with American products in Cuba since Castro's coup in 1959. The big hits of the show have been Wrigley's gum and Pears. People in Cuba had never seen a Pear before last week. While this could mean billions of dollars in increased revenues for the American food industry what does it mean politically? It's an interesting situations and like every report I've read about it...it all boils down to politics with this one. Clinton was a lot easier on Cuba than Bush is, people can argue that the pre-terror obsessed world was a little easier for Clinton to be easier on Cuba than Bush can be now. But, I don't think that's the whole story...I don't think Bush is only harsh on Cuba now because of the terrorist threats. I agree with loosening the trade embargo, I don't agree with an open border and letting everyone from Cuba immigrate to the US, but selling them products from the US can only help our economy and our economy can use a little unexpected help.

In case anyone wants to throw me a party because I am such a great person. You can book the entertainment through this site!

WATER!!! EVERYWHERE! It's coming from the walls...the baseboards...up from the floor...everywhere...!!!! I have never actually seen a pipe burst before. Until about 45 minutes ago when I seriously wondered if I'd fallen into a cartoon. A water pipe burst in our employee locker room and there was water everywhere. I pitched in a wet vacced as much as I could...it was absolutely unreal. We've sent a 911 out for the plumbers...hopefully they'll get here quick, the bandage that we applied to the pipe doesn't look like it will hold too much longer!

Any day that starts with a story about Iowa Football on the front page of ESPN.com College Football, has to be a good day. I will write more of my thoughts about our crazy football game this past Saturday and other random thoughts as the day progresses. Right now, I must unbury my desk after one day off....