A little more on the Drug Companies

I just realized something I'd remembered reading about but had forgotten when I'd written the previous entry: The Obama administration and the drug companies had reached a deal in June whereby the pharmaceutical manufacturers are limited to an $80 Billion (strangely, the same figure I calculated as their 2008 profits. Conincidence?) liability over ten years, in exchange for support for the Obama administration's Health Care proposals. Many in Congress don't seem to like the deal, as they were hoping to get much more out of them to help fund Health Care. But it does look like the White House is going to stand by it.

Just some general thinking...

Fiscal 2009 budget for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid: $1.055 Trillion.

2nd Quarter 2009 Profits for the top 7 US Health Insurance Companies: $2.674 Billion. (Note: Companies included in sample are UnitedHealth Group, Humana Inc., Aetna, Health Net, Wellpoint, Coventry Health Care Inc., CIGNA; together, they make up about 85% of the health insurance business in the US).

For the sake of argument, lets assume those figures stay more or less the same for all four quarters of 2009. Multiplying by four, we arrive at a figure of about $10.696 Billion. Also, lets increase that by another 15%, to represent the additional 15% profits not covered in the above figures. That brings us to $12.3 Billion. Now, lets be really generous, apply a fudge factor and round up to $13 Billion, and get a rough estimate for the projected combined profits of the Health Insurnace industry in the US for 2009.

$13 Billion. Sounds like a lot. But its still only about 1.23% of the entire Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid budgets for FY2009.

Now lets switch over to the pharmaceutical companies. Can't find 2009 figures, but I did find a table listing profits for the top 10 companies in the first half of 2008.

• Pfizer - $6.526 Billion
• Merck - $3.019 Billion
• Sanofi-Aventis - $5.140 Billion
• Astra-Zeneca - $3.026 Billion
• Hoffman-LaRoche - $3.578 Billion
• Novartis - $3.669 Billion
• Johnson & Johnson - $6.125 Billion
• Glaxo Smith Kline - $5.132 Billion
  
• Wyeth - $2.184 Billion
• Bristol-Meyers Squibb - $1.381 Billion

Total: app. $39.781 Billion.  Looks like the drug industry is where the profits are at.

Multiply that figure by two, and you arrive at an estimate of $79.562 Billion for 2008.  Lets just round that up to $80 Billion for a rough figure of total 2008 profits.  This in turn breaks down to only about 7.6% of the FY2009 S&S-M-M budget.

Taken together, both figures only represent about 8.8% of the entire Fiscal 2009 budget for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  While these are only rough estimates, it seems reasonable to me to assume that they are not too much out of line from what we can expect in the future.

Even if we were to suddenly seize every cent of those profits from these "Evil Corporations" and put it to use to pay for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicade, we would only have enough money to run those programs for 32 days; the government would still have to find a way to fund the remaining 333 days. And that is just for the way things are budgeted FOR THIS YEAR; who knows how much we'll be talking about when Health Care reform passes?

If we take out Social Security and believe the fiction that the federal government does not need to touch the Social Security Trust Fund at present, and only worry about Medicare & Medicaid, we arrive at a total budget for FY2009 of $511 Billion. In which case, the profit amounts mentioned above only account for 2.1% (Health Insurance) and 16% (Pharmaceutical) of the combined Medicare & Medicaid budget, or about 18.1% combined. The government could run those programs for only 66 days on that amount. And again, this is only assuming current budget figures, and does not include any increases brought about by current health care reform proposals.

So for those who think "tax the corporations to pay for health care"... sorry, but so far as I can see, the math just doesn't work.

And hey, if someone has better figures or another way of parsing this data, feel free to point it out to me. But I'm still having a real hard time understanding how taxing the hell out of these industries is going to solve the basic budgetary problem. Or even make that big of a difference. In the end, the overwhelming majority of these bills are still going to be paid as they are always paid - on the backs of the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Cassini's Saturn at Equinox

Awesome image of Saturn taken from the Cassini space probe:



Higher rez images (Really, really higher rez!) can be found at the Cassini Imaging Central Labratory for Operations website.

The Audacity of Hos

Strangely enough, Jon Stewart "gets it" in regards to the ACORN mess.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

The company you keep...

Another reason why I refuse to hand over any of my money to see an Oliver Stone film: He likes to hang out with dictators.


Left: Oliver Stone; Right: "El Presidente" Hugo Chavez

Something to watch

Back

*sigh*

Almost three years since last I posted anything here. Blah.

Been thinking about starting this up again. Would like to, since I suddenly have a lot on my mind that I want to just vent. But as always, I have no idea if I have the time to devote to it. Not when I should be working or helping with the kids with their homework or doing all the things I should be doing instead of writing on a blog.

Crossing my fingers.

Pull List - Week of November 22, 2006

Here's what I'm going to be picking up this week:

52 #29
Blue Beetle #9
Connor Hawke #1 (will give this series a try for a couple of issues at least)
Superman/Batman #30
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #5
Wonder Woman #3

Pull List - Week of November 15, 2006

Actually, a pretty big list this week.

52 #28
Birds of Prey #100
Checkmate #8
The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #6
OMAC #5
The Omega Men #2 - Cyborg and Wonder Girl appearance
Shadowpact #7
Supergirl #11
Wonder Woman #3 - Robin, Wonder Girl, and Donna Troy appearance

The Beast Boy & Raven Comic Book Watch - 11/8/06

Here we are again, with yet another long-awaited (aren't they all?) issue of Teen Titans.

Teen Titans #40
Story by Geoff Johns; Pencils by Tony Daniel; Inks by Kevin Conrad

Continuation of the "Titans Around the World" arc. Frustratingly, no mention of Gar.

1) Raven arrives at a very familiar place, namely the same temple of the Church of Blood where she was resurrected.



2) While attempting some kind of ceremony, she is interrupted by Cassie and Kid Devil. Startled by Kid Devil's appearance (he bears a passing resemblance to Trigon, after all), she reacts.



3) Raven sorts matters out with her teammates, but then Bombshell (who is revealed to be the unknown "traitor" to the Titans during the One Year) intervenes. Raven and Bombshell struggle, and a certain disc falls into the pool of blood, causing the resurrection of....



Yep. Its Jericho.

*****

At this moment there is no idea what this means to the Gar/Rae 'ship. Jericho and Raven seemed to be rather close in the old NTT days, but Marv Wolfman has always been adament that they were NOT romantically involved nor did he ever intend them to be. So make of that what you will. Since recent issues have seemed to indicate that Raven regrets breaking it off with Gar, and since there also seems to be an indication that Zatarra is interested in Raven, I'm tending to think the intention is going to be a potential Gar/Rae/Zatarra triangle rather than a Gar/Rae/Joey one. Again, I guess the only thing I can say is that time will tell. One thing I can say, though, is that Joey is almost certianly rejoining the Titans; he has been revealed to be one of the shadows on the preliminary cover for Teen Titans #41.

Which in turn means, Gar is not coming back to the Titans (at least for the moment) and will continue to be exiled into comic limbo. :(

*****

The next issue of Teen Titans, #41, is scheduled for November 29th release. This will wrap up the "Titans Around the World" storyline. After that, Teen Titans #42 is scheduled for December 13th release. Teen Titans #42 will be mostly a solo story starring Kid Devil, but Zatarra is suppose to be showing up in the issue as well. Chances are, one of these two issues will probably give us our first real clue as to what to expect from here on out.

There is supposed to be a Titans appearance in 52 sometime before Christmas, but no idea as yet which issue; that will probably be the next time we see any sign of Gar. For general information, Cyborg recently appeared in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #5, while Cyborg and Wonder Girl also made an appearance in The Omega Men #1 (and are expected to be in the second issue as well). And of course, other cameos are always possible.

Keep the faith, guys. We'll get through this.

And remember.... BUY THE TEEN TITANS COMIC BOOK!!

A Little Piece of Etymological Trivia

The word "Idiot" is derived from the Greek ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs ("layman," "person lacking professional skill," "a private citizen," "individual").  It was originally used in ancient Greek city-states to refer to people who were overly concerned with their own self-interest and ignored the needs of the community. Declining to take part in public life, such as (semi-)democratic government of the polis (city state), such as the Athenian democracy, was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters.

In other words....

Idiots were people who DIDN'T VOTE.

DON'T BE AN IDIOT!!

VOTE ON NOVEMBER 7!!!

Pull List -- Week of November 8, 2006

DC Comics
52 #27
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #31
Green Arrow #68
Martian Manhunter #4
Teen Titans #40
Nightwing: Renegade (TPB)

Birthday

Today is my daughter Megan's 10th Birthday.  Happy Birthday, Megan!!

(God, I can't believe I have a child who is now 10 Years Old....)

Wizard Magazine Lays the Odds

Wizard Magazine has laid down the odds as to who will be rounding out the new team in Teen Titans. Beast Boy is mentioned as a possibility, and this is what they have to say:



Hey. At least Gar/Rae is getting mentioned in Wizard. We've hit the big time! And to think a year ago we were being told "It will never, never, never, never, never, (ad nauseum) never ever happen..."

Full Disclosure Time: While Wizard places the odds as being pretty good that Gar will be returning to the team, I'm still sceptical. Yes, I'd love to see it happen right now. But Gar returning now doesn't quite jive with some of the other things I've been hearing, especially in regards to any new Doom Patrol series. I guess we'll get a better idea on what the likelihood is when Teen Titans #40 comes out next week; if Gar is not in that issue, then the odds are pretty unlikely he'll be suddenly popping up in Teen Titans #41 (when the "final" team is officially revealed).

Bottom Line: Gar fans, keep your hopes firmly in check and don't read too much into this. Wait until the issues come out, and celebrate and/or commiserate when the time comes.

(Special thanks to KTHunter for pointing this little tidbit out!)

Pull List -- Week of November 1, 2006

52 #26
Blue Beetle #8
Justice League of America #3
Nightwing #126
Outsiders #42
Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol. III: Strange Visitor from Another Century (TPB)

Beast Boy & Raven Comic Book Watch - October 23, 2006

Weeks late this time. Sorry. Really hoping that things ease up on me and I can get these postings back on track soon. (And if you want to know what's been the hold up, read the post marked "Grumblings" below).

Teen Titans #39
Story by Geoff Johns; Pencils by Tony Daniel; Inks by Kevin Conrad.

The Titans are hunting for Raven, and come to former Titans member Zatara for help.

1) Hmmm. Zatara seems to know an awful lot about Raven.



2) Zatara tells the Titans he's not interested in helping them, and asks them to leave. But when they do... Zatara has second thoughts.


Its starting to look pretty likely that Zatara is the person who Johns said would "try to come between" Gar and Raven.

52 #21
Story by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid; Pencils by Joe Bennett, Inks by Jack Jadson; Breakdowns by Keith Giffen; Cover by J.G. Jones.

This is the first issue of 52 in which the Titans play a significant role.

1) Gar and Raven on the cover... with Zatara seemed poised to drive a wedge between them?


Gar looks a little pissed. As the issue unfolds, it turns out he has reason to be.

2) One of the Beast Boy-led Titans teams from the One Year. Get a good look at them, because this is probably all we'll ever see of one of those teams in action. *blah*



3) The Titans at the funeral for Trajectory, a member of Luthor's version of Infinity Inc., who sadly died at the hands of Blockbuster (but actually, murdered by Luthor):


Things just go from bad to worse for Gar. And behind him, Zatara is making the moves on his girl... (I don't know about anyone else, but I kind of like Raven with the pony tail look).

4) At least there's some indication that we'll be seeing more of the Titans in 52.



Justice League of America #2
Story by Brad Meltzer; Pencils by Ed Benes; Inks by Sandra Hope.

1) Awww. Red Tornado's daughter sleeps with a Beast Boy plushie.



Secret Six #4
Story by Gail Simone; Pencils by Brad Walker; Inks by Brad Palmiotti.

I've got very mixed feelings about this issue. On one hand, it was a chance for Garfield and the new Doom Patrol to appear somewhere outside of Teen Titans and perhaps get some exposure. On the other... they proved the point that the purpose of a guest star is to make the main characters look good. And in this case, the Doom Patrol show up seemingly for no other purpose than to get their butts kicked.

1) The Doom Patrol meets the Secret Six. At least Gar has one good line before things get ugly.



2) Mento goes mental. Gar tries to help.



3) The Secret Six's Mad Hatter takes over Elasti-Girl and nearly forces her to eat her adopted son. Talk about sick.


I love Gail Simone's writing. And for the most part, I've really been enjoying Secret Six. But this sequence left a very bad taste in my mouth. It's probably the last time we'll be seeing both Beast Boy and the Doom Patrol in current continuity this year - and the first part of next year isn't looking much better. The only thing Beast Boy and Doom Patrol fans will have to look forward to now are perhaps another appearance in 52 and maybe flashbacks in Teen Titans. That's it, nothing about what's happening with them "now". So this appearance is the last we're going to be seeing of them for quite some time, and they exit stage left on something of a real downer. It's not what I was hoping to see happen to any of these characters in 2006. And like I've said, from what we're hearing about the way things are shaping up for 2007, next year may very well not be much better. *sigh*

Infinite Crisis: Hardbound Edition
(Supplemental Pages): Story by Geoff Johns; Pencils by George Perez; Inks by Andy Lanning.

What, didn't we cover Infinite Crisis months ago? Well, not quite.

The collected hardbound edition of Infinite Crisis has been released, and it includes a number of pages that were added to the story in order to flesh out some scenes and better explain what was happening. And in several of these new pages, both Garfield and Raven appear.

1) In IC #5, there was a scene where a number of the heroes gather at a church. Gar and Raven are now in among the crowd.



2) And here's a surprise. Mento is also among the crowd as well, along with Elasti-Girl (in her Byrne-era uniform) and Chief.


What's surprising about this is that, until now, it was assumed that Mento's return had happened during the One Year. Now it appears to have happened before IC was even over, but probably after Teen Titans #32. Another effect of the fight with Superboy Prime from that issue?

3) The Titans come to the aid of a badly injured Nightwing.


This scene was inserted to show how Dick Grayson survived recieving a sopping chest wound.

4) At the end of Infinite Crisis #7, there was a two page spread of DCU heroes. To refresh your memories, here's what Gar and Raven looked like in that spread:



5) Well, for the IC trade edition the entire two page spread has been redone. And sadly (hopefully not ominously), the two of them have been seperated. Raven is now placed toward the top among the other mystics:



6) Gar is still more or less where he was before, but now in bird form.


A few things to mention about Gar's appearance here. First off, I don't particularly like that Gar is shown in animal form and not in uniform, but that seems to be the way he gets routinely depicted in these kind of encyclopedia-like montages. Still, there could be something to the fact that he's shown in bird form - and while I'm not an expert on birds, I do think it looks to me like he's in the form of a raven. This adds to a theory that more than a few people have suggested (but of which I have not seen any concrete proof - meaning actual quotes - on), namely that George Perez seems to actually like the idea of Gar & Raven getting together. Certainly, until this montage, he seems to have recently gone out of his way to depict them in close proximity to one another whenever he's had the chance to draw them. So perhaps there is something to that theory. I guess only time will tell.

*****

Whew! This was a BIG update!

*****

I think it is pretty likely that the next few months are going to be very rough for Gar/Raven supporters. For one, it looks like we're going to get some tension with Zatara. For another, TPTB at DC have seen fit to exile Beast Boy to a team with no title and now no plans for one in the foreseeable future. Certainly, the solicits for the next three months don't seem to show an appearance anywhere of either Beast Boy or the Doom Patrol, although 52 is always a distinct possibility (and indeed, there are some reports that the Titans will be showing up there once more before Christmas). So for the moment, Garfield Logan fans are left frustrated and in as much limbo as the character.

A Teen Titans: Year One mini series has been announced by DC. Its being written by Amy Wolfram, who wrote many of the best episode of the Teen Titans animated series. Hopefully this means Gar will be making an appearance in there, but if so it will probably be a very young Gar from before the Wolfman/Perez days. No word on when the series will come out, but summer '07 is a good bet.

No one seems to know when Wolfman's Raven mini series will kick off, but early 2007 is the big hope. Fans who are hoping to see Garfield in that one are going be disappointed; from Marv Wolfman's own words, no other Titans (current or former) will be appearing in that series, although they probably will get mentioned. Some people have also speculated on a Garfield appearance in the upcoming Terra mini series, but I understand the same no-Titans rule will also apply to that one as well; since that series will deal - at least directly - with a new character and not Tara Markov (any version), it seems they want to establish the character before having her encounter any of Terra I or Terra II's past associates.

Teen Titans #40 comes out on November 8th. That will probably be when the next BBRCBW update is posted. There should be images of Raven in that one, if nothing else. Beyond that, Geoff Johns has assured fans that TT #41 & #42 will ship out before the end of the year. So in theory, either November or December will be a two-issue month. BTW, Teen Titans #43 will see the start of the long-awaited Titans East story.

Keep the faith, guys. Don't lose hope. We knew we'd be seeing rough patches; we're in one now, and the only way out is through. Just remember to keep the Maalox handy, and you should be fine.

Remember: SUPPORT BB & RAE; BUY THE TEEN TITANS COMIC BOOK!!

Pull List - Week of October 25, 2006

Things I'm picking up this week:

52 #25
Justice #8
Secret Six #5
Superman/Batman Annual (Deathstroke appearance!)
Trials of Shazam! #3
Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #4

Things I picked up in the last couple of weeks since my last "Pull List" post:

DC Comics
52 #23
52 #24
Birds of Prey #99
Checkmate #7
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #30
The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #5 (Note: Cyborg appearance)
Green Arrow #67
Martian Manhunter #3
The Omega Men #1 (Note: Cyborg & Wonder Girl appearance)
Shadowpact #6

IDW
CSI: Dying in the Gutters #3

Of this huge stack, the only things I've actually read to date are 52 and Dying in the Gutters.

Grumblings

*sigh*

Warning. I'm venting. I need to scream right now.

I'm a little depressed right now. And pissed. Mostly at myself. Trying very hard to stay positive about things, but sometimes its just hard. No, I'm not talking about things in the world of comics; that's my hobby, and I use my hobbies as someplace to go to get away from things. Rather, I'm talking about the way things are going on right now in my life. Just when you think you're getting ahead, bang, something happens to knock you down farther than you were when you began.

My online friends have been noticing that I haven't been around much. Anywhere. There are some places where I haven't shown my avatar in more than a month (RBSU, BBRS). Others, particularly ComicBloc, I show up for a few minutes just to check the latest news, but then go away without leaving much comment. Sorry guys. Its not because I don't want to be around or losing faith or interest or whatever. Its just the sad truth that, when one grows up, one has to keep their hobbies on a lower priority than such mundane things as work, family, and general, everyday living. Right now I'm feeling bad because I just haven't been able to keep up with even the little news that has been coming out, nor have I been able to participate in the conversations on my favorite forums. I haven't even been able to post a BB/RCBW in weeks, even though I have more than enough material for one right now. It feels like I've let people down, and I guess it just bothers me.

Last month I went out to Oregon to bring a truckload of belongings to my mother-in-law. I was gone for about ten days, roundtrip. When I got back, I discovered something I had prepared for a client had not been delivered in a timely manner, and I was therefore now in deep trouble with that client. This despite the fact that I had checked in with the client's office twice to make sure things were OK, and was never informed of any problems. Doesn't matter, I got blamed anyway, especially since I was out of town and it was difficult to reach me when I was on the road (Note to Sprint users: Cell phone reception in middle-of-nowhere Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon sucks). So for the last month I've been busy trying to make this client happy. Busting my butt off to make this client happy. Beating myself with a stick and working incredibly long hours to make this client happy. And now I'm being told, its not good enough. And this really bothers me.

And on top of all this, I've got family issues. Parents who are getting on in years, and all the medical and financial problems that entails (not to mention that I'm more than a little afraid for one of them). Simple things like getting the kids to do their homework, keeping the house clean, doing the laundry, etc. It gets really, really depressing when you come home, look at the stuff that sincerely needs to get done, but know that there is no way in hell you'll be able to get to any of it for days and days. If that. Maybe. Because there's only 24 hours in a day, you have to sleep sometime, and everyone wants you to be doing their "top priority" thing first. And this really, really bothers me. Not to mention pisses me off.

When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

So I'm in a crappy mood right now. Part anger, part frustration, part self-flagellation. I don't quite know how to get out of it, except to admit that life sometimes sucks and the only way out is through. So I guess I've just got to take a deep breath, suck it in, and go on. Because when you get right down to it, there really isn't much else one can do. Doesn't make it any easier, though.

Looking forward to the day when I can sit down and read a bunch of comics without feeling guilty that I shouldn't be doing something else.

Pull List - Week of October 3rd

52 #22
Nightwing #125 (first issue with Marv Wolfman!)
OMAC #4
Outsiders #41
Infinite Crisis (HRD)

Slow week for me in terms of number of items to pick up.  But I'm really looking forward to both Nightwing and the hard cover edition of Infinite Crisis (which will have a number of extras to it).

Pull List - Week of September 27, 2006

DC Comics

52 #21
Action Comics #843
Blue Beetle #7
Justice League Of America #2
Secret Six #4
Supergirl #10
Teen Titans #39
Trials Of Shazam #2
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #3
Superman: Up Up And Away (TPB)
JSA: Mixed Signals (TPB)

IDW

CSI: Dying In The Gutters #2