Bits and pieces - 12-17-22

 

Marshall Law?

On the “it would be hilarious if it wasn’t so scary” page:

Text from Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff, on January 17, 2021 “Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!”

Now, it would be a great improvement of our current situation if the country was governed on the basis the legal expertise of Marshall, Thurgood, that is. But what this idiot was asking Trump to do was to invoke martial law. Amazing how voters could elect some one to the “greatest legislative body in the world” who doesn’t know the difference.

I guess I shouldn’t be so critical of South Carolina voters. After all, voters in my Congressional District just reelected Representative David Rouzer, who would have a hard time besting an 8-year-old on Jeopardy if the topics were on the US Constitution.

 

Alabama leads the way

When Tiara Young Hudson, a black public defense attorney, won the Democratic primary for circuit court judge in Jefferson County, and was therefore a shoo in for the court, since there was no Republican challenger, an Alabama state commission simply voted 8-3, along racial lines, to dissolve the judgeship. 

By the way, Jefferson County is the largest and most diverse county in the state. The Judicial Resources Allocation Commission made to decision to “relocate” the circuit court to the majority-while Madison County, giving rightwing Republicans another way to subvert democracy.

  

Go a nasty cold that won’t go away?

You might want to try Ambroxol, which is available nearly everywhere in the world as a generic. It has been in wide use since 1979. Robert Kuttner described it as “a kind of miracle drug for coughs and colds” after he and his wife used it during a trip to France. A box cost eight euros.

It’s available everywhere in the world that is, except the US. Apparently, “no U.S. drugmaker has ever applied for FDA approval to sell it, which requires extensive testing and clinical trials, as if the drug were brand-new; the FDA does not take the word of, say, the European Medicines Agency.”

One more example of how “the promise of generics has been blunted because the big dogs at PhRMA, who want exorbitant profits and restricted competition, have been buying up generic drugmakers.”

The good news is that you can go on line and order Ambroxol from Europe.