Tuesday, October 24, 2023

News bits: Drug company spending patterns; Global warming update; Etc.

A WaPo article from 2015 commented on how drug companies spend their money to make more money:
Prescription drugs are a massive market: Americans spent $329.2 billion on prescription drugs in 2013. That works out to about $1,000 per person in the U.S., as John Oliver pointed out in his show on Sunday night. Oliver also mentioned that nine out of 10 big pharmaceutical companies spend more on marketing than on research.

 

A 2017 NYT article commented about research showing that drug companies’ heavy reliance on stock buybacks hurt corporate performance over time:
Under fire for skyrocketing drug prices, pharmaceutical companies often offer this response: The high costs of their products are justified because the proceeds generate money for crucial research on new cures and treatments. It’s a compelling argument, but only partly true. As a revealing new academic study shows, big pharmaceutical companies have spent more on share buybacks and dividends in a recent 10-year period than they did on research and development.
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A Nature paper, Unavoidable future increase in West Antarctic ice-shelf melting over the twenty-first century, reports an analysis that projects the West Antarctic Ice Sheet will inevitably collapse, causing a ~5 meter increase is sea level. That is ~16.4 ft. The researchers' data and analysis indicate that it is probably too late to prevent the collapse, no matter what governments actually manage to do about carbon dioxide emissions.

Qs: How much might that sea level rise cost us? $15 trillion? How much will that cost Exxon-Mobil and other pro-pollution, anti-global warming regulation businesses? Not nearly enough.  
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Israel war: Truthout reports:
The Israeli military has launched one of its most violent attacks on the Gaza Strip since its latest bombing campaign began two weeks ago, further devastating the occupied territory as its overwhelmed healthcare system and humanitarian services teeter on the brink of collapse.

Over just the past 24 hours, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 400 people in Gaza, bringing the enclave’s total death toll since October 7 to more than 4,500. Israeli bombs reportedly hit Gaza’s largest refugee camp on Sunday, killing dozens.

Gaza’s Interior Ministry said Israel also struck “residential apartments in the town of Khan Younis and the Nuseirat refugee camp, both of which are south of the evacuation line,” The Associated Press reported.

But according to The New York Times, the Biden administration is “not making a demand of Israel and still supports the ground invasion.”

On Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden joined the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom in issuing a joint statement reiterating their “support for Israel and its right to defend itself” and calling for “adherence to international humanitarian law,” which Israel has been accused of violating repeatedly with its indiscriminate airstrikes and blockade.

The Western leaders’ joint statement said they are “committed to continue close diplomatic coordination, including with key partners in the region, to prevent the conflict from spreading, preserve stability in the Middle East, and work toward a political solution and durable peace,” but they did not call for a cease-fire.
So, Israel bombs places that Palestinians were told would be safe. Israel withholds humanitarian aid, including drinking water. Both are war crimes under International Humanitarian Law. The US seems to be complicit. We don't even ask politely for a cease-fire, at least not in public. Instead the US and other nations feebly call for adherence to international humanitarian law while Israel ignores it. 

A reasonable estimate? If Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis, Israel is probably going for a Palestinian body count of at least 12,000 to satisfy its lust for revenge. One can only wonder what the ratio of non-combatant civilians to Hamas fighters is in the Palestinian body count, maybe 10:1?
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From the Babbling Dictator Files: Trump has gone fully insane:

He says he was never indicted: “We did nothing wrong,” Trump said. “This is all Biden’s stuff … I was never indicted. You practically never heard the word.”

The stable genius thinks deep thoughts: Trump also remarked that “U.S.” and “us” are spelled the same and noted that he’d “just picked that up.” “Has anyone ever thought of that before?” he asked the crowd. “Couple of days, I’m reading, and it said ‘us.’ and I said, you know, when you think about it, us equals U.S. Now if we say something genius, they will never say it.”

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