The Week That Was: May 5 - May 11

Mergers and Acquisitions

Businesses were busy this week. News Corp made a bid for Dow Jones, Thompson and Reuters began merger talks, Google announced it would be making more acquisitions, and JetBlue has been named as a possible takeover target.

Bad Week For Big Pharma

The Senate agreed to give the FDA some teeth in a bid to have the FDA monitor drugs after they've been approved. Purdue Pharma plead guilty in court, stating that they knew Oxycontin was addictive. Amgen was warned to further strengthen the warning labels of their blockbuster anemia drug Aranesp and its earlier, shorter-acting version, Epogen, and conduct additional studies to prove their safety.

Apple Takes A Bite Out Of Greenpeace

At Apple's annual stockholders meeting, Steve Jobs told two Greenpeace representatives that if they really wanted to do something about the environment, they would base their actions on facts instead of rhetoric.

Everybody Hates Washington

A recent AP poll showed that Congressional Democrats share the same pitiful approval rating as the President. It seems that after the Democrats big showing in November, the fact that they have accomplished nothing is annoying their constituents.

M Is For The Many Things...

Don't forget to call your mother on Sunday and wish her a happy Mother's Day.

And that's the week that was.

The pot Continues to Call the Kettle...

Almost one month ago, Al Sharpton went on a tirade about Don Imus' comments. Maybe he should learn to keep his mouth shut. On Monday, Sharpton was up to his old tricks stating, "those of us who believe in God" will defeat Mitt Romney.

"It was a very unfortunate and un-American thing to say," Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and current presidential candidate, said. "I think it was a bigoted statement and I have no interest in seeing bigoted statements about my faith or anyone else's faith put into the public discourse."

Sharpton has claimed that he wasn't saying that Romney didn't believe in God, but the statement speaks for himself. So where is the clamoring for him to lose his radio show?

Interest Rates Steady...For Now

The Fed kept interest rates steady today, but their comments didn't please many investors.

While Wall Street had hopes that rates would start to come down in the next few Fed meetings, mainly due to the downturn in the housing market, inflation remains the focus. In its policy statement, the Fed stated that that it could choose to move rates in either direction depending on the data even though inflation risks remain the paramount concern. The stress placed on inflation risks was widely viewed by Wall Street as a signal that a rate hike is more likely than a reduction.

The news, however, did not do much to the markets, which remained up after the announcement.

Are There Any "Love" Crimes?

Last week The House of Representatives passed a revised hate crime bill. The changes include adding sexual preference and gender to race, religion, color, and national origin to those attacks labeled as hate crimes. President Bush has already said he will veto the bill and church leaders are up in arms because they are concerned it will infringe on their first amendment rights.

Church leaders should stop worrying. There is nothing in the bill that would keep them from preaching intolerance, but if they're that worried, they should make sure to remind their audiences that speech is free, beating people up is not. There are two things, though, that concern me about the bill.

The first thing that bothers me is that this law will punish certain people more harshly than others, based on motive and victim. Why should someone who attacks a someone out of ignorance be punished more than someone who attacks out of greed? I want someone to know that if they assault me to take my wallet, they're going to face the full force of the law. Under the hate crime bill, that's not the case. That attacker is going to get a more lenient sentence than the one who assaulted a homosexual, Hispanic, Asian, or any other minority. They should ALL face the full force of the law, not just some of them.

The other thing that concerns me is on more of a practical level. This bill gives the federal authorities the right to run roughshod over the local police. I think if authorities at the federal level need to get involved, it should only be at the request of the local authorities. They may feel they need assistance. If they don't, all you're going to get is a lot of jurisdictional fighting, and very little justice.

"Cocaine" Fights For Shelf Space

Cocaine is the latest beverage to cash in on the energy drink craze. Produced by Las Vegas-based Redux Beverages, the drink has stirred up controversy with its choice of name. It has already been forced off the shelves in Connecticut, Illinois and Texas. It is also under investigation by the FDA.

"Our goal is to literally flush Cocaine down the drain across the nation," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who announced Monday that Redux Beverages has agreed to stop selling the drink in Connecticut. "Our main complaint about Cocaine is its name and marketing strategy seeking to glorify illegal drug use and exploit the allure of marketing 'speed in a can,' as it called the product."

Those of you familiar with columns in various Connecticut Newspapers will know that I usually feel that anything Richard Blumenthal is against is probably a good idea. Here's what else Blumenthal said.

"...selling Cocaine in a can and appealing to children as the so-called legal alternative violated our consumer protection laws, even if they are properly licensed."

Read that again so you know you read it right. Blumenthal is fighting this drink because it promotes itself as "a legal alternative." Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't our elected officials supposed to be supporting legal alternatives to our kids taking drugs. Redux has stated that the energy drink has no drugs in it, the name is simply a marketing ploy. As an energy drink, I don't know that it could be considered healthy, but it's certainly healthier than drugs. This isn't even the first drink to name itself after cocaine. You might be familiar with the other one, Coca Cola. Are we going to force them off the shelves now too? (By the way, for evidence that Coca Cola is also named for Cocaine, the Coca Cola Company is considering a lawsuit against Redux for trademark infringement over the name.)

These so-called consumer protectors basically feel that the American public is too stupid to tell the difference between a drug and an energy drink. Redux Beverages has announced that it will re-release the drink under a new name and label. Keep an eye out for it and judge it on whether or not it tastes good and gives you an energy boost.

To register a complaint about the government again interfering in the lives of the public, write to the attorney generals who are behind this:

Richard Blumenthal
Office of the Attorney General

55 Elm Street

Hartford, CT 06106

and

Lisa Madigan
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60601