Friday, April 28, 2006

Limbaugh cops a plea

Now that’s a drug deal he won’t be ranting on the radio about:

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk-radio host, was charged yesterday with prescription drug fraud and turned himself in to Florida authorities as part of a deal to resolve a lengthy inquiry into whether he improperly obtained painkillers. [...]

As part of the agreement, which Mr. Black said would be filed with the court on Monday, the charge would be dropped in 18 months if Mr. Limbaugh continued to undergo treatment for drug addiction.

Mr. Limbaugh is also required to refrain from breaking the law during the 18-month period, pay $30,000 to Florida officials to offset the cost of the investigation and pay $30 a month for the cost of supervision, Mr. Black said.

Chump change for the man who “before his own problems with painkillers surfaced...had regularly told listeners that drug users should be jailed.”

I’d like to see the poor everyday Joe get treated that way instead of just this one pampered loudmouth rightwing hypocrite celebrity. But, oh, right, this is crime-fighting America.

Do you detect a little bitterness there? Because of my hearing loss, everyone (read: my mother!) mentions his to me. Mine is from a totally different cause, not self-induced through drug abuse (mom!).

Everyone also mentions his cochlear implants. I note that he could afford them (piddling fines not withstanding), while insurance won’t pay for one for me unless I’m totally deaf in both ears.

SEE ALSO: Holly on the happy-face mug shot; I can agree with James on what should be legal; and a TPM Reader says “Don’t get bamboozled. In criminal cases we don’t call them ‘settlement agreements.’ They are plea bargains… Oh, and the money being paid is called a fine. Black can call it reimbursement, but that’s BS.”

Georgia10

Chicago reader profiles Daily Kos’s Georgia10:

THE WOMAN who might be Chicago’s most-read political writer doesn’t have an office. On most days Georgia Logothetis, 23, is either at home in the same Rogers Park three-flat where she lives with her parents or at DePaul University’s downtown campus. About four or five times a day, taking a break from constitutional law homework or prepping for a mootcourt trial, she’ll type a righteously indignant rant clobbering the Republican Party on Iraq, warrantless spying, and the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Then she’ll post it, under the screen name Georgia10, on the front page of liberal blog Daily Kos (dailykos.com), which gets between 400,000 and 800,000 unique visitors daily.

Via Romenesko.

Ads work, warnings don’t

Important Information:

CELEBREX may increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke that can lead to death. It should not be used right before or after certain heart surgeries.
Serious skin reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, can occur without warning and may cause death. [Emphasis in original]

Patients taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. [...]

People with aspirin-sensitive asthma or allergic reactions due to aspirin or other arthritis medicines or certain drugs called sulfonamides should not take CELEBREX.

Prescription CELEBREX should be used exactly as prescribed at the lowest dose possible and for the shortest time needed.

If I were king, I’d ban prescription drug advertising aimed at consumers:

As it resumes ads for the controversial medicine, Pfizer, the world’s biggest drug maker, is offering consumers a decidedly mixed message. But 16 months after the company stopped advertising Celebrex over concerns about its heart risks, Pfizer has returned to the consumer ad market in hopes of reviving sales of the drug, which plunged last year during the ad moratorium.

The new campaign in magazines has raised the ire of consumer groups, who say that Celebrex is so dangerous that Pfizer should stop selling it, not encourage patients to use it. The campaign is more evidence of the drug industry’s dependence on consumer advertising to prop up sales, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, a frequent critic of drug makers.

Celebrex’s safer-for-the-stomach benefit has never been proved, and without advertising its sales were fell by half.

Firefox Flicks

Hasbro’s Monopoly made the NYTimes, but it feels gimicky to me. Swell, we get to vote. I can’t say I much care.

Firefox Flicks on the other hand, now that’s interactivity:

Project Description
Create a 30-second ad, in any style (live action or animated,) that brings Firefox to life for the millions of Web users who have yet to discover Firefox and the better Web experience it delivers.

Project Summary
Mozilla seeks to expand awareness of Firefox among a broader audience for Web browsers: mainstream consumers who may have little knowledge of the value proposition for Firefox. To help increase awareness of Firefox among this target audience, Mozilla would like to produce a high-quality, innovative 30-second ad that introduces Firefox to mainstream Web users.

In line with its history and orientation, Mozilla is opening up the creation of its initial advertising creative to film/TV/advertising/multimedia professionals, students and aspiring pros as part of the Firefox Flicks Ad Contest.

View, rate and email the flicks by my post popular, most recent, or most viewed. Download or comment on them and link to or embed them in your website…

LATER: CALL ME OUT OF TOUCH! I find out and post about Firefox Flicks the day after the winners are announced. Or maybe they do need better PR.

Hasbro’s Monopoly Here & Now

I saw the headline that Atlantic City is upset about Hasbro’s plans for a version of Monopoly that drops the gambling town. I didn’t read on to learn that:

Even old-world companies are jumping on the social-networking bandwagon. Toy maker Hasbro is allowing the public to decide what the next version of Monopoly will look like.