Those who follow the pharmaceutical blogosphere may be pleased to know that Ed Silverman's Pharmalot is back online, though in a less-prolific manner.

--PWT

What Pres. Lincoln should have said was, "You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, and that's good enough to win an election." Neither candidate for the highest office in the land has mentioned who would be on their respective cabinets, who would play for all the swell programs they are promising, or how soon we would see "change." Rather we have "deuling lipstick" comments! I try to keep a stiff upper lip on my European trips, but it is getting harder and harder to explain what we are doing over here.

Once upon a time, you could remake your image and get away with it. Now, we have everything on tape and can replay it at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, we are not only lazy, but ignorant. [Why else would all those emails from "former Finance Ministers of Nigeria" and the such scam us?] The other night Jon Stewart (Daily Show) played the acceptance speeches of Mr. Bush at the 2000 GOP convention and Sen. McCain's this year. If some of the contestants on "America's Got Talent" could be that synched, they could win. But, like a lot of seniors, what America's Got is not talent, but short-term memory. If we actually took the time to watch earlier speeches by politicians, we would see thay all pretty much "flip-flop." It's just that the first to shout "flip-flopper" wins the propaganda war.

While Congress has  a 14% approival rating, over 90% of the incumbants will be re-elected. Telling the truth will get you ousted. Remember Jimmy Carter saying we have an energy crisis and we're addicted to oil? Threw the bum out, didn't we? How do you like $4/gal gas, hmmmm? If any of the people in Congress actually laid out the problems, we'd throw them out, too. We don't want to hear that we're pampered (give up our SUVs or air conditioning just to save the world...hah!) or use too many resources (why fix something when you can throw it out and get a new one?). Since people are voting against their financial interests, there must be a reason. Maybe fear has something to do with it.

Obama made the mistake of exposing the GOP plan: raise tensions so the masses will cling to their religion and guns! When we are convinced that the "bad guys" are coming to kill us, we attend church (or synagogue or whatever) and stockpile arms. [Within minutes of John Kerry announcing his VP candidate, Homeland Security raised the color warning. No reason other than to re-focus the public on being afraid, I fear.] I seem to remember that the safest place to be was in Red Square in Moscow during the Cold War. You would never be bothered by a petty thief or mugger. All freedoms were taken away for absolute security...the KGB would protect you for that little price. So now, the Homeland Security bill allows wiretapping without warrent, the gov. can ask what books you read, hold you forever "on suspicion", etc. All in the name of security, we have our freedoms taken away. Why? So we can protect our freedoms, of course!

Try putting lipstick on that pig!

Most of us use fillers when we speak: uh, um, you know, clearly, like, and that's what I'm talkin' about. The latest insult to our collective mind is "It is what it is." (Duh!) I can only imagine Glog's mate complaining about how damp and wet the cave is...and his reply? "It is what it is!" That is not the attitude that gave us central heat, electricity in our homes, medicines that save our lives, and reality TV. [Three out of four ain't bad.]

The @#$%-ed saying is a "cop-out' (from my generation) for not bothering to try to improve the human condition. Crooked politics? "It is what it is." Higher and higher enegy? "I.I.W.I.I" Thanks to Pres. RR, we have the trickle down effect in play. Garbage can full? IIWII!

 Could we make an effort to stop with "like, um, er, IIWII, and you know?" PLEASE!?! I was just watching Brian Williams give the news; it was succinct, gramatically correct, without hesitation or fillers. It was beautiful (not the news, itself, but the presentation). I just had to say, "Now,that's what I'm talkin' about!"

 Just saw a remarkable segment on the Today show; there is a trend to use women in India as surrogate mothers. One main reason? It's cheaper! Now, where have we heard that one before? Granted, the women in the "womb-for-hire" program have more health care than the average Indian citizen, but the death in childbirth rate in India is 26 times as large as the US.

We don't lose sleep over the fact that Michael Jorden is paid more than all the people making Nike sneakers, combined; we don't how the people live who make our chap toys in China (unless, gasp! some lead gets in); so why should we care about some poor Indian girls possibly dying? I mean we only have 4,000,000,000 people on Earth, so what's a few more? Maybe infertility is Nature's way of saying, "ENOUGH!" God forbid Americans adopt some of the millions of homeless orphans (Brad and Angelina excepted), let's make more, more, more.

I'm sure there is a way pharmaceutical manufacturers are making a buck here, should we look deep enough, but hey, "It's nothing personal; it's just business."

There are so many 800 pounders that I don't know where to start.  I merely look at what the candidates aren't talking about and I see a bunch.

What about Medicare drug pricing? Our "mission accomplished" crew, so recently departed and departing, forbade the Medicare folks from negotiating for a lowest pricing (a la' Canada), ensuring drug company profits remained up there.  Ever hear that mentioned by all the "Change" candifates? Hmmm...

What about the multi-trillion national debt? El Presidente cites a "mere" $400 billion deficit for 2006/7. That is calculated by leaving out Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security benefits paid. When looked at carefully, the number closes in on $1.3 trillion! My understanding is that the debt run up by the current administration is greater than all the past presidents, combined! That includes the Civil War, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Viet Nam, Korea, etc. and all of Roosevelt's programs during the Depression. If debt is the answer, Mission Accomplished! Not one spending bill was vetoed in the last seven years! (Over 1100 "signing staements," though...)

Oh, yes...global warming? I don't even have time for that one...Al Gore, save us please!

Green; everybody wants to get in on the latest fad. There was a report on an electric car (for only $85,000) that hops from zero to 60 mph in four seconds! And, best of all, it's electric and "non-pollutiing." That is, assuming you don't count the coal-fired electric facility generating the "fuel" for the car.

I may have missed the part where they calculated the amount of fossil fuel per mile burned by the car vis a' vis a standard internal combustion model. My wife loves her 1992 Honda, getting somewhere between 30-35 mpg (when I'm not in it). I would like to see proof that this "wonder-car" does better in total carbon footprint!

The same type claims are made for diet pills (there are no pills anymore...haven't been in decades), "pure" water (isn't Evian merely naive, spelled backwards?), batteries (energizer bunny, my A**), and ED medicines (who sits in a tub out in the open, anyway?). I think we need to be a bit more cynical, don't you?

The above is my dance instructor and yours truly at an Arthur Murray Showcase...dancing to Meatloaf''s "Paradise by the dashboard light." So much for my "conservative" image, no?

I know all you Pharma executives have been busy this time of year, so, to help you catch up, I'd like to suggest a few resolutions for the Pharma industry (starting this year):

1. STOP trying to equate bigger with better. Every merger costs thousands of jobs. [Buying another company with nothing in its pipeline won't help you with yours!]

2. Use those mega-millions of lobbiest money to lobby congress for MORE FDA people, not less. Sure, you may have to obey the laws (gasp!), but all us sclubs will be better off wihout lead in our drugs to match our toys.

3. Be Green; remember, when you stop destroying batches, you conserve resources. Ergo, PAT and QbD cause fewer mistakes, recalls, and lost materials. This will also slow down #1.

4. Remember, when you're cutting staff, losing one V.P. slot can save four (or more) chemists' jobs. (Or 10 Admin. Asst.'s)

5. If you didn't have luxury boxes and season tickets at arenas and stadiums accross the country (for MD's "instructional" purposes), you could hire more R&D people to find new drugs to avoid job cuts. [Are we sensing a theme here?]

6. If you must send your sales staff to Tahiti orPuerto Rico as a reward for selling what we (in the lab) create, PLEASE don't send us company newsletters with shots of them on the beach. Contrary to popular opinion this does not motivate us "lab rats" to greatness.

I'll be back with a few other suggestions...just start on these and we'll see how it goes.

 Happy New Year

Golly, we are finding lead in toys from China (for which we reward them by producing drugs there). Considering that the UK and US used metal salts to color (or colour) candy (copper sulphate for blue, etc.) in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, it shouldn't be a surprise. Exactly what did we think were the safeguards in a country where $0.40/hr is considered good pay? When the "first world" finished its industrial revolution and unions, etc. came about, it grudgingly gave us a 5-day work week, minimum wage, (sort-of) health care, und so weider.

We seem to expect China and other developing countries to jump from the 18th to the 21st century all at once; ain't gonna happen. So, in lieu of safeguards, our beloved leader and cohorts has one, count 'em, one person in one lab checking all imported toys (makes my grandkids sleep better at night). Of course, if the "Great Communicator" hadn't fired 1/2 of our FDA inspectors along with the air traffic controllers in the 1980s, we might be better off, but....

Do we want cheap or do we want good? Reminds me of the instrument triangle: cheap, good, fast...pick any two. If you want cheap and fast, it can't be good. Want cheap and good? It won't be fast. And the beat goes on. I believe I once said that you won't get a Rolex for $25... (See my "You can't cheat an honest man" column.)

As H.L. Menken (late of the Baltimore Sun) once said, "You won't go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."

Question: What do you call Santa's helpers?

Answer: Subordinate clauses!

Hey, it's not always about complaining...I do have a sunny side..and an eclipse side.  ;-D