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sarisataka

sarisataka's Journal
sarisataka's Journal
July 1, 2020

Drug manufacturers challenge emergency insulin law in federal court

Drug manufacturers challenge emergency insulin law in federal court

A law that is set to give Minnesotans access to an affordable 30-day supply of insulin is being challenged by a group representing pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act is set to take effect Wednesday. The law, which Gov. Tim Walz signed earlier this year, allows those who are uninsured, under-insured or on Medicare to receive a 30-day supply of insulin for $35. 

A day before the law went into effect, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, also known as PhRMA, filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the law is unconstitutional. 

The lawsuit claims that because the law requires drug manufacturers to provide insulin at a reduced price — without any compensation from the state in return — it violates their Fifth and 14th amendment rights, which prohibit the state from taking private property for public use without just compensation
https://kstp.com/health/alec-smith-emergency-insulin-act-phrma-federal-lawsuit/5778079/?cat=1

I wonder if PhRMA will address how insulin prices have more than tripled in recent years. Surely they can explain why insulin in the US costs 10x as much as the same sold in Canada.
June 30, 2020

African-American leader: St. Paul board members who voted to remove SROs will have 'blood' on hands

African-American leader: St. Paul board members who voted to remove SROs will have ‘blood’ on hands if there’s school violence

The president of the African American Leadership Council told St. Paul school board members who voted to remove school resource officers from the schools they will have “blood” on their hands if a child or teacher is hurt or killed.

Tyrone Terrill, who wrote a Sunday night email to board members in partnership with the St. Paul Black Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, said the board was acting “on emotions and not facts.”

The school board voted 5-1 last Tuesday to no longer pay the city of St. Paul to post police officers in seven high schools and to instead develop a new safety plan.

St. Paul school board members previously debated whether officers belong in the schools and the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody sparked the discussion again.
https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/29/african-american-leader-st-paul-board-members-who-voted-to-remove-sros-will-have-blood-on-hands-if-theres-school-violence/

The same action in Minneapolis was cheered, in St Paul it is condemned
June 23, 2020

The Segway is officially over

The Segway is officially over

The Segway PT, which earned a place in pop culture but never realized its creators' world-changing ambitions, will come to an end this summer.

China-based Ninebot, which acquired Segway in 2015, will halt production of the PT, short for Personal Transporter, on July 15. Twenty-one staffers will be laid off at its Bedford, New Hampshire plant. Fast Company first reported the news.

The Segway PT made a splash in December 3, 2001 when it was unveiled on Good Morning America. Inventor Dean Kamen said that an urban transportation revolution was coming and cars would be obsolete. Kamen felt it was absurd to use 4,000-pound cars and trucks for short trips.

But last year the Segway PT accounted for only 1.5% of Ninebot's revenue, according to Tony Ho, vice president of global business development at Segway. With a price tag starting at $6,000 and sometimes reaching $10,000, only police departments and tour groups could afford it, he said.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/tech/segway-pt-shut-down/index.html

"Do you remember life before Segway?"
IT fell a bit short of the hype.
June 21, 2020

Armed protesters peacefully march on Oklahoma Governor's Mansion

Armed protesters peacefully march on Oklahoma Governor's Mansion

Between 150 and 200 protesters peacefully marched from the Ralph Ellison Library to the Governor's Mansion on Saturday to deliver a double-barreled message.

“We aren’t going to allow people to come into our communities and brutalize us,” event organizer Omar Chatman said before the event. “If you come into our community, know we are armed.”

The 1000 Brothers and Sisters in Arms protest might not have approached its eponymous numbers, but it bore enough artillery to pop the National Rifle Association's buttons.

Community organizer Michael Washington was among the speakers who said the march was a response to the recent killings of Black men by police as well as local cases they want reopened.
https://oklahoman.com/article/5665067/armed-protesters-peacefully-march-on-governors-mansion

It seems none of them were shot; I am quite sure it has been repeatedly predicted a rally like this would be gunned down. (also I have not seen any comments on about the size of the protesters genitals)




Full gallery of photos- https://oklahoman.com/gallery/articleid/5665067
June 20, 2020

1 dead, 1 injured after shooting in Seattle autonomous zone

1 dead, 1 injured after shooting in Seattle autonomous zone

A 19-year-old man is dead and another person has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after an overnight shooting inside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone in Seattle, police said.

The shooting occurred early Saturday, around 2:30 a.m. local time, inside the zone, which is also referred to as CHOP, according to a statement from the Seattle Police Department.

Police said a "violent crowd" prevented them accessing to the victims. They said they were later informed that both victims had been transported to Harborview Medical Center by CHOP medics.

The 19-year-old later died and the other victim, who was only identified as male, remained in the hospital.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/dead-injured-shooting-seattle-autonomous-zone/story?id=71363286
June 20, 2020

If we are eliminating monuments to white supremacy, what should be done about "The Six Grandfathers"

More commonly known as Mount Rushmore?

-The treaty of Ft Laramie in 1868 promised to the various tribe in the area the Black Hills in perpetuity. By 1874 settlers began to take over the region as the gold rush began. (Due to the discovery of gold by trespassing prospectors)

-A 1980 SCOTUS ruling has affirmed that the Black Hills was taken illegally.

-The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum was a member of the KKK. He was originally hired to sculpt Stone Mountain, Georgia but left that project due to disagreements with the Klan and United Daughters of the Confederacy

Consider the men carved there:

-George Washington- slave owner

-Thomas Jefferson- slave owner

-Abraham Lincoln- signed the order for the largest mass execution in US history, 39 Dakota men were ordered to be hung following the 1862 Dakota War, though none of them were actually given a trial. Instead they were found guilty by a military commission.

-Theodore Roosevelt- perhaps the most progressive, wrote "the only wise and honorable and Christian thing to do is to treat each black man and each white man strictly on his merits as a man, giving him no more and no less than he shows himself worthy to have". However he also of African Americans, "as a race and in the mass they are altogether inferior to whites”.

His views of Native Americans were less progressive- In his book The Winning of the West he wrote: "The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages, though it is apt to be also the most terrible and inhuman". Also "it is of incalculable importance that America, Australia, and Siberia should pass out of the hands of their red, black, and yellow aboriginal owners, and become the heritage of the dominant world races"


It seems Mount Rushmore is the grandest, and perhaps most egregious, monument to white supremacy.

June 16, 2020

Target makes Juneteenth a company holiday

Target makes Juneteenth a company holiday

In an effort to build on its commitment to racial justice and equity, Target says it is now recognizing Juneteenth as a company holiday.

According to Target, hourly team members scheduled to work on June 19 will be paid holiday premium pay.

The company will also close its headquarters in observance of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

"We recognize that the racial trauma the country is experiencing now is not new, but throughout recent weeks there has been a sense that this time is, and has to be, different," Chairman and CEO of Target, Brian Cornell, said. "Juneteenth takes on additional significance in this moment. Moving now to recognize it on an annual basis—as a day to celebrate, further educate ourselves or connect with our communities—is one more important action Target can take as a company to help the country live up to the ideal of moving forward in a new way."
https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/target-makes-juneteenth-company-holiday/5761351/?cat=12196
(Full story, no more at link)
June 12, 2020

I want to offer a compromise on US Army base names

Trump can decide whether to keep or change the name of any base without restriction or limit.




The only requirement is that he served at least one day of active duty on a base that he wants to choose the name.

June 3, 2020

There are more troops on US streets than Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan combined.

Far more


The National Guard has a long history of being called out during protests - but not in numbers like this

The National Guard.

Maybe you've seen them in your community in recent months in a broad range of responsibilities: from sewing face masks for coronavirus patients to, in recent days, preventing property damage during protests.

Right now, about 74,000 Guardsmen have been activated across the US. That's more than at any other point in recent history, according to the National Guard Bureau.

"This civil unrest mission is an uncomfortable mission," Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement to CNN. "Our Guard members are from these communities."

Here's a breakdown of what the National Guard is and what its members do -- including in moments of civil unrest.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/what-is-national-guard-trnd/index.html
June 3, 2020

Chauvin faces additional 2nd-degree murder charge, 3 other former officers involved in Floyd death c

Chauvin faces additional 2nd-degree murder charge, 3 other former officers involved in Floyd death charged

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has added a second-degree murder charge against former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin and has charged the other three former officers involved in the fatal arrest of George Floyd.  

A new criminal complaint against Chauvin was issued Wednesday. 

According to court records, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng are each facing charges of unintentional aiding and abetting second-degree murder as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Floyd's family, also issued a statement following the news: 

"This is a significant step forward on the road to justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd's body was laid to rest," Crump said. "This is a source of peace for George's family in this painful time." 
https://kstp.com/news/ag-ellison-to-elevate-charges-against-chauvin-charge-additional-3-former-officers-/5749913/?cat=1

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Gender: Male
Hometown: St Paul MN
Home country: USA
Current location: Here
Member since: Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:41 PM
Number of posts: 18,600
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