F.D.A. to Expand Scrutiny of Risks From Drugs After They’re Approved for Sale
The Federal Food and Drug Agency takes its time checking out new medications that companies want put on the market. Even after that long process sometimes medications are later withdrawn because of events that appear after patients begin taking the medication. Sometimes this takes years to surface and fatalities occur before a recall is in place. How can we do a better job?
“Chastened by repeated instances in which popular medicines proved deadly, federal health officials announced a major effort on Thursday to use information on Medicare claims to assess the risks of drugs already on the market.”
“The new system, called the Sentinel Initiative, will allow officials from the Food and Drug Administration for the first time to monitor almost immediately how drugs affect health. As it stands now, months or even years must pass before officials learn of unexpected side effects that can cost dozens or even thousands of lives.”
[read whole story]
F.A.A. Tests Ways to Detect Runway Junk
Air travel is fast, expensive and for many people, scary. You are being hurtled hundreds of miles per hour, thousands of feet in the air. If there is a problem, well, good luck. Sometimes something as small as a pen can spell disaster for a flight. It can be kicked up into the engine and cause either damage or complete failure. How can we be protected against such issues?
“A sensor is being tested by the Federal Aviation Administration to detect debris that can damage airplane engines on takeoff or even lead to plane crashes.”
“At the edge of Logan International Airport’s Runway 15-right, a technician watched a yellow sensor slowly scan back and forth across the pavement. He waited until it was pointed away from him and, like a man dodging a lawn sprinkler, he rushed to the middle of the 150-foot-wide runway, tossed a plastic pen onto the surface, and dashed back.”
“On this occasion, it worked. In less than a minute, a computer in the control tower half a mile away sounded an alarm in a mechanical voice: “F.O.D. Alert, F.O.D. Alert.””
[read whole story]
Not One Dime For A Bathroom For Disabled Children’s Baseball League
We could have saved $54,000 dollars if there were just one qualified person left in the Engineering staff, who could write specs for the 1.6 million dollars worth of new equipment the WWTP needed. The last person who had the credentials to write specs was Jim Johnson, our Asst. Town Engineer, who Mohan fired!
One of our little league baseball leagues needs $25,000 to hire an architect to draw the design for a bathroom. This league has a disabled league within it and currently the league uses outhouses. Many of the youngest cannot use an outhouse. Sometimes the parents of these children have put clean clothes on them in the fields.
If you are the parent of a little person who is autistic or disabled you feel the pain they are valiantly struggling with when they have to use the outhouse. Individuals with differing abilities struggle physically while suffering to adjust to uniqueness of an outhouse. If you are a parent whose child or children, by the grace of GOD, are healthy, please call Town Hall at 631-7030. Ask why Supervisor Mohan will pay an outside firm $54,000 to draw specs for equipment the town needs yet why he can’t understand the plight of these children and their parents. They need $25,000 to start their project to build a humane bathroom. The money for this project was actually voted in our budget last year.
Mohan will try to pass the buck to the Town Board BUT THE BUCK REALLY STOPS AT HIS DESK!
Many Florida Jews Express Doubts on Obama
Many older Jews in Florida are worried about Barack’s effect on the middle east situation and their homeland, if he should win in November.
“At the Aberdeen Golf and Country Club on Sunday, the fountains were burbling, the man-made lakes were shining, and Shirley Weitz and Ruth Grossman were debating why Jews in this gated neighborhood of airy retirement homes feel so much trepidation about Senator Barack Obama.”
[read whole story]
American, Cutting Back, Plans $15 Bag Fee
Every day we hear about a new way Americans are being hit in the wallet by the oil crisis. Now it’s baggage!
“There’s an old saying about the best way to travel: bring half the clothes and twice the money.”
“Now may be the time to take that advice to heart.”
“American Airlines said Wednesday that it would soon start charging passengers $15 to check their first bag each way, or $30 round-trip, if they are flying on a discounted fare. ”
[read whole story]
Understanding and Outrage From Air Travelers
Airline passengers expressed a variety of opinions about American Airlines’ move to charge $15 for each checked bag.
“No other carrier rushed to join American in adding the first-bag charge, but several said they were studying the idea.”
“But the travelers said they felt badly for sky caps, who have seen their gratuities evaporate as the airlines have instituted charges for curb-side check in.”
[read whole story]
Open Letter From Brian Higgins
| Dear Friend: As the 2008 election season gets underway, I want to thank you for the generosity you have shown me in supporting my campaigns for the House of Representatives. As I work each day, either in Western New York or in Washington DC, I am reminded often of the very substantial personal and financial support you have shown me and how that support has helped me to continue fighting for Western New York.
I’m proud of the work we have done on behalf of Western New York. Today, sights rarely seen on the Buffalo Waterfront – men and women operating heavy equipment – are working to construct a multi-million dollar greenway project. In Buffalo’s Inner Harbor, instead of the construction site that appeared abandoned when we took office three short years ago, we have a vibrant new public space that celebrates our history and represents all of the important recreational and cultural resources that Buffalo has to offer. We have seen similar success in dozens of similar projects throughout our district from Cheektowaga to Jamestown, and look to do more in the future. As you know all too well, one unfortunate but important component of running for Congress is raising campaign funds. As you may have heard, my opponent, a millionaire businessman, announced his candidacy for Congress earlier this week, pledging to spend between $1 million to $2 million to run his campaign and to “sink significant amounts of his own money into the campaign.” Accordingly, while I know and understand how generous you have been thus far, I am asking that you consider making an additional donation to my re-election campaign. You may make a secure online credit card donation at http://higginsforcongress.com or you may remit a contribution, payable to “Higgins for Congress,” to PO Box 28, Buffalo, NY 14220. Once again, I thank you very much for the generosity you have shown me, and for your kind consideration of this request. |
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Very truly yours, |
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BRIAN HIGGINS |
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Member of Congress |
Rocker David Cook wins “American Idol”
Rocker David Cook wins “American Idol”
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rocker David Cook won the coveted title of “American Idol” on Wednesday, dealing an unexpected but decisive defeat to a silken-voiced teenager, also named David, on the most popular U.S. television show.
Senator Kennedy (D-MA)
All of this happened in 1994, so my memory of exact events and places may be somewhat faulty. For that, my apologies.
During the summer and fall of 1994 I was living with my then-fiance in a small one-bedroom apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts. At the time, I was either studying for the New York and Massachusetts Bar exams or else I had started working for the small neighborhood law firm at which I spent my first few years of practice. I was a rarity at the time - a registered Republican in Massachusetts, although we had a charismatic Republican governor, Bill Weld (more on him in a separate post). We did, however, have two very well-known Democratic Senators, Kerry and Kennedy.
In 1994, Senator Kennedy’s continuity in the Senate was being threatened by a charismatic Republican challenger named Mitt Romney. He was doing so well in the polls that the Kennedy campaign was getting spooked. Luckily, a lot of old Kennedy hands came back on board to help the Senior Senator keep his seat, which he ultimately did. Say what you want about the Senator, he always looked out for the poor, for the less fortunate, and for the Commonwealth.
One day I received a call from a dear family friend who was helping the Senator’s re-election effort. He remembered that we lived in Waltham and asked if we wanted to come and see him address a campaign rally at a union hall on Trapelo Road. Not being one to pass up seeing and hearing a living legend speak on friendly home turf, I jumped at the chance.
We parked on the street and made our way through the union guys and volunteers handing out lit and chose our seats on the aisle halfway back in the majestic hall. At some point I recall being permitted to go backstage where I didn’t see the Senator, but then-gubernatorial candidate Mark Roosevelt was waiting to speak.
(Note this from the Wikipedia entry for Roosevelt: “Roosevelt was appointed on August 3, 2005, to the position of [Pittsburgh] school superintendent. He accepted this post under the terms of a unique performance-based “Accountability Contract.”)
After Roosevelt and some other pols spoke, someone went up to introduce Senator Kennedy. We stood up and looked back towards the doors of the hall and our family friend was pointing at me and whispering something in the Senator’s ear. As the Senator made his way down the aisle to a standing ovation, roaring applause, he shook just about every hand extended to him. He made a special stop to our seats and shook our hands, thanking us for being there.
Higgins Joins House in Approving the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act
Legislation Cuts Taxes for middle Class Families & Creates Incentives for Renewable Energy and Green Jobs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) joined with his colleagues in the House of Representatives to approve H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, legislation aimed at extending and expanding tax incentives for renewable energy, retaining and creating hundreds of thousands of green jobs, spurring American innovation and business investment, cutting taxes for millions of Americans and closing loopholes allowing U.S. corporations and executives to avoid U.S. taxes by shipping jobs and investments overseas.
“Small businesses in America employ more than half of the country’s private workforce, create three of every four new jobs, and generate innumerable innovations,” said Congressman Higgins, a member of the House Committee on Small Business. “These tax provisions will help create jobs in neighborhoods across Western New York.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & TAX RELIEF FOR BUSINESSES:
Among other things this bill extends through 2008 the accelerated 15-year cost recovery periods for restaurant property and leasehold improvements and saves 3.4 million teachers money with a deduction for classroom expenses.
The bill would also extend several tax provisions important to economic development projects in Western New York. Among others, the bill would extend the Research and Development Tax Credit which allows biotechnology and manufacturing firms to engage in more innovative research with lower financial barriers, the New Markets Tax Credit which encourages private parties to invest in economic development projects in low-income areas, and a tax provision that allows businesses to immediately expense the costs of remediating contaminated brownfield sites.
SUPPORT FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES:
The bill would help families cope with the rising cost of education by extending the current deduction for college tuition, provide 22,000 American troops in combat with tax relief under the Earned Income Tax Credit and extend through 2008 the option to deduct state and local sales taxes instead of income taxes.
GREEN INVESTMENTS:
The bill extends and modifies several existing energy-related tax provisions while also providing new incentives. It extends an existing credit for the production of renewable energy, extends a credit for energy-efficient commercial buildings and homes, provides $3,000 or more toward the purchase of fuel-efficient, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and authorizes the issuance of $3 billion in tax-credit energy conservation bonds to fund projects to reduce greenhouse gases.
This month, an Energy Department report concluded that it’s feasible for the United States to get 20 percent of its electricity needs from wind power by 2030, about the same share now provided by nuclear power, without the need for any major technological breakthroughs. Wind power is especially important to the future of Western New York.
“By using just one tenth of the potential wind power from Lakes Erie and Ontario, we could produce cheap, renewable energy for businesses and homeowners in Western New York equal to three Niagara power plants,” Higgins said. “The tax credit for wind energy will help us harness this renewable resource while creating green jobs for local workers.”
Higgins added that the tax credit for energy-efficient buildings will help us make better use of our resources. “With buildings like the soon to be built LEED certified federal courthouse in Buffalo leading the way, this credit will create more incentives for green investment in WNY.”
H.R. 6049 does not add to the deficit. The tax incentives and relief provided are offset by closing a tax loophole that allows hedge fund managers and certain corporate executives to defer taxation through offshore corporations. The bill would also delay for 10 years implementation of a pending tax benefit for multinational companies that have shipped jobs overseas.
