Pharmaceutical Company Threatens Blogger

Boiron, a multinational pharmaceutical company, have threatened an Italian blogger with legal action, the BMJ reports.



Many people are concerned when big pharmaceutical companies do this kind of thing. So I don't think we should make any exception merely because Boiron's pharmaceuticals happen to be homeopathic ones.



Samuel Riva, who blogs (in Italian) at blogzero.it, put up some articles critical of homeopathy

which included pictures of Boiron’s blockbuster homoeopathic product Oscillococcinum, marketed as a remedy against flu symptoms. The pictures were accompanied by captions, which joked about the total absence of any active molecules in homoeopathic preparations

Boiron wrote to Riva's internet provider threatening legal action, if the offending references to Boiron weren't taken down. They also wanted them to lock Riva out of his blog, the BMJ says. In response Riva removed the references to Boiron, including the pictures and captions, but kept the posts on homeopathy in general.



Hmmm.



Above you can see a new picture I made of a Boiron product, with some captions you may find interesting. I've made sure to limit these to quotes from Wikipedia, and from Boiron USA's own website, and some simple mathematical calculations.



Beyond that, I make no comment whatsoever.



Turone F (2011). Homoeopathy multinational Boiron threatens amateur Italian blogger. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 343 PMID: 21840920

Pharmaceutical Company Threatens Blogger

Boiron, a multinational pharmaceutical company, have threatened an Italian blogger with legal action, the BMJ reports.



Many people are concerned when big pharmaceutical companies do this kind of thing. So I don't think we should make any exception merely because Boiron's pharmaceuticals happen to be homeopathic ones.



Samuel Riva, who blogs (in Italian) at blogzero.it, put up some articles critical of homeopathy

which included pictures of Boiron’s blockbuster homoeopathic product Oscillococcinum, marketed as a remedy against flu symptoms. The pictures were accompanied by captions, which joked about the total absence of any active molecules in homoeopathic preparations

Boiron wrote to Riva's internet provider threatening legal action, if the offending references to Boiron weren't taken down. They also wanted them to lock Riva out of his blog, the BMJ says. In response Riva removed the references to Boiron, including the pictures and captions, but kept the posts on homeopathy in general.



Hmmm.



Above you can see a new picture I made of a Boiron product, with some captions you may find interesting. I've made sure to limit these to quotes from Wikipedia, and from Boiron USA's own website, and some simple mathematical calculations.



Beyond that, I make no comment whatsoever.



Turone F (2011). Homoeopathy multinational Boiron threatens amateur Italian blogger. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 343 PMID: 21840920

Jason Linkins channels Morning Joke

By J. Thomas Duffy

(Ed. note: Some of you may know this, but I should note that I'm a blogger at The Huffington Post. The views expressed here are solely those of JTD. I may or may not agree with one or more of them. -- MJWS)

Apparently, for any of us who have criticized Arianna Huffington and her Huffington Post, building her empire on the fingertips of unpaid writers, Jason Linkins, of HuffPo, today tells us to all go back to our parents' basements and eat Cheetos in our underwear.

Or that we are lazy sacks of shit who don't want "[n]o daily hours, no deadlines, no late nights, no weekends..."

Let's backtrack for a moment.

Back in 2008, Morning Joke and his Sargent Garcia-like sidekick Mika Brzezinski took exception to bloggers criticizing Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain.

From Amanda Terkel of Think Progress:

Also during this segment, Scarborough attacked liberal bloggers for correcting McCain's error, saying they were probably "just sitting there, eating their Cheetos" and saying, "Let me google Anbar Awakening!" He added, "Dust flying — Cheeto dust flying all over. They're wiping it on their bare chest while their underwear — you know, their Hanes."

Hmmmm....

Now let's swing back to today, and to the Linkins lecture he doled out today on -- you guessed it -- Huffington Post:

Being a paid employee comes with many expectations and responsibilities. Let's run some of them down, shall we? First of all, there's this expectation that on a daily basis, you will show up and do work. In an office and everything! There you are subject to things like deadlines -- you actually have to produce writing on a regular basis. You receive assignments, from editors, that you are expected to fulfill in a timely fashion. You participate in editorial meetings. You coordinate your efforts with your colleagues. You try to break news. You try to cultivate sources. You go, whenever you are able, to where news is occurring.

Stop for a moment, class, everyone is not paying attention:

Is the State of the Union tonight? You'll be working during that time. Is there a debate? Got a night of election returns coming? Plan on staying late. Did some madman just put several people in Tucson, Arizona in the hospital on a Saturday? Cancel your plans, because you've got to call in and get to work. You are, theoretically, on call, 24-7, to get the work done.

Those are the sorts of responsibilities, that, when they are fulfilled, entitle one to a "salary." And that's the life of the people who get paid to do original reporting and content for the site. And the content they produce is the most important content on the site. It's the stuff that is most widely read. It's the primary driver of everything else.

Does everyone follow that, class?

Big people do big, important jobs every day, and it's important to understand that, because when you grow up, you'll have to do big important jobs everyday, so you can get a paycheck.

Or not.

Here is where he channels Scarborough:

Now, people often wonder: why would anyone blog for free, at a place that pays other contributors? Please note, that part of what "free" entitles you to is a freedom from "having to work." No daily hours, no deadlines, no late nights, no weekends. You just do what you like when the spirit moves you.

[snip]

Of course, there remain hundreds of contributors to The Huffington Post who do so for no other reason than that they want exposure. Now, the value of "exposure," in and of itself, is a subject for debate. And it should be! But nevertheless, we have hundreds of people who want to take something they've written and put it in front of potentially millions of people, instead of their Facebook friends or their Twitter followers.

And here Linkins bends down to fill our bowls with some more Cheetos, and to tell us to be quiet and that someday we can eat grown-up food:

I suspect that there are a lot of blogger-contributors who are of a similar mind to me. Still others probably like having a big megaphone for their hobby. Naturally, there will probably be people who want to graduate from unpaid contributor to employee -- and where they can make a case on merit, and assume all of the responsibilities of employees, such "promotions" will be considered. But it's a dramatic change in your life to go from somebody who's writing whenever they feel up to it, to someone who has to come in and make high quality contributions on a regular basis -- even when that sporadic writing is brilliant writing. And that's the sort of thing that has to be considered before that jump is made.

Got that, class?

You'll have to make a "dramatic change in your life" if you want to be somebody ("I coulda had class, I coulda been a contender...") -- even if you are brilliant -- to earn that paycheck.

No lightweights or Cheeto-eaters need apply.

If there is a Patronizing Hall of Fame, somebody needs to nominate Jason Linkins and his trivial post.

He's a lock to make it on the first ballot.

Bonus Riffs

Jill: Why buy the cow when you're getting the milk for free?

Maryann Johanson: writers must stop giving their work away to Huffington Post

Barry Crimmins: Financial Modeling for Fun and Profiteers

Top Ten Cloves: Things Joe Scarborough Likes To Eat and Wear When Sitting At Computer

Arianna Escalating Her Wage-Less Empire

Breaking News! GM Cancels UAW In Favor of Adopting Huffington Post Business Model ...Celebrities, Auto Enthusiasts and Bloggers To Build Cars For Free; Huge Spike In Profits Forecast

(Cross-posted on The Garlic.)

What's on Your Mind Wednesday.

Really?  I'm not sure the world is ready for this, but Tanya over at A Taste of T inspired me.  So it's all her fault. Besides I need some fun in my life today because cat litterboxes are calling me and that is so my least favorite chore in the entire house.  Four cats pooped enough, but since it's 18 degrees colder than a well diggers rear end outside, I suckered up and there are ummm, twelve?  fourteen maybe? cats in our house right now.  Hubby says that's why they have fur.  I think they're still cold and need someplace warm to hunker down.  They agree with me by the way.  So with that said, and before I go to explore poop mountain (not to be confused with Candy Mountain which is much more magical and even has a magical leopluridon) I shall explore what's on my mind for your amusement.

• I should really get my makeup case out of the car and let it thaw
• I hope we're going to get the snow they're calling for tomorrow
• I need to visit Poop Mountain
• Thinking about Poop Mountain the words Veni, Vidi, Vici come to mind.
• I wonder if the ribs are going to be edible
• Crap, I forgot to turn off the crock pot
• My cow slippers are dying.  They have -le gasp- holes in the toe.
• Why is there an empty basket in the middle of the living room floor?
• Matchboxes always say "Strike on Cover".  Isn't that obvious?
• My cat has eye boogies.
• If I were a fairy, I'd have a knoll.  A big one.
• Without mushrooms cuz they're creepy.
• Happy Bunny is my hero.
• I should go back to bed where it's warm and read a book.
• I can't take a nap because I'm going to Poop Mountain.
• I'd rather be going to Candy Mountain.
• If Candy Mountain was real would it still exist or would people have eaten it?
• They make miniature dogs and miniature horses, why can't they make miniature cats?
• Miniature cats would poop less.
• I need tea.
• I'm hungry, but I don't want anything I've got.
• We're so screwed this month.  Wonder if they'll shut off the power when it's subzero outside?
• Anthony thinks my house is pretty.  I like Anthony.
• David thinks my house is a hellhole.  I hate David.
• I'm not going there today.
• I'm going to Poop Mountain.
• Now.
• Soon.
• Maybe.
• What the hell is a magical leopluridon anyway?

If I'm  not back by nightfall, send help.

What's on Your Mind Wednesday.

Really?  I'm not sure the world is ready for this, but Tanya over at A Taste of T inspired me.  So it's all her fault. Besides I need some fun in my life today because cat litterboxes are calling me and that is so my least favorite chore in the entire house.  Four cats pooped enough, but since it's 18 degrees colder than a well diggers rear end outside, I suckered up and there are ummm, twelve?  fourteen maybe? cats in our house right now.  Hubby says that's why they have fur.  I think they're still cold and need someplace warm to hunker down.  They agree with me by the way.  So with that said, and before I go to explore poop mountain (not to be confused with Candy Mountain which is much more magical and even has a magical leopluridon) I shall explore what's on my mind for your amusement.

• I should really get my makeup case out of the car and let it thaw
• I hope we're going to get the snow they're calling for tomorrow
• I need to visit Poop Mountain
• Thinking about Poop Mountain the words Veni, Vidi, Vici come to mind.
• I wonder if the ribs are going to be edible
• Crap, I forgot to turn off the crock pot
• My cow slippers are dying.  They have -le gasp- holes in the toe.
• Why is there an empty basket in the middle of the living room floor?
• Matchboxes always say "Strike on Cover".  Isn't that obvious?
• My cat has eye boogies.
• If I were a fairy, I'd have a knoll.  A big one.
• Without mushrooms cuz they're creepy.
• Happy Bunny is my hero.
• I should go back to bed where it's warm and read a book.
• I can't take a nap because I'm going to Poop Mountain.
• I'd rather be going to Candy Mountain.
• If Candy Mountain was real would it still exist or would people have eaten it?
• They make miniature dogs and miniature horses, why can't they make miniature cats?
• Miniature cats would poop less.
• I need tea.
• I'm hungry, but I don't want anything I've got.
• We're so screwed this month.  Wonder if they'll shut off the power when it's subzero outside?
• Anthony thinks my house is pretty.  I like Anthony.
• David thinks my house is a hellhole.  I hate David.
• I'm not going there today.
• I'm going to Poop Mountain.
• Now.
• Soon.
• Maybe.
• What the hell is a magical leopluridon anyway?

If I'm  not back by nightfall, send help.

Oh Noes!

I'm sicky!  Again.  Ugh.

Not bad though, but that's why I was feeling so icky yesterday I think.

On the plus side, I did get the rest of the decorations up, I got the trash ready to take to the dump, I got the bed made, did some Christmas shopping for my mother, got the youngling picked up from work, cheated on dinner and stopped at BK, fed the neighbors cat, AND got cat food!  As much as I wanted to crawl in the younglings' water bed, I resisted and actually felt pretty accomplished at the end of the day when I crawled in to my fresh newly made bed and promptly passed out.

Unfortunately, that's when I decided that I was sicky.  A cold or maybe bronchitis left over from being sick as a dog earlier this month.  I went to sleep great, but woke up sometime in the middle of the night having as asthma attack and attempting to cough up not one, but both lungs.  Nose stopped up, achy, congested, icky.

Today has been a little bit better, got some errands run, got the youngling from school and to work again which is making me wish she could drive even though I'm having nightmares of 900 car pile-ups with her as the cause.  I did not however, go back out into the cold to freeze my arse off while figuring out how come only one third of the outside tree is lit.  Our neighbors will just have to deal for a while.

I wrote my post for my other blog, and got around a wee bit there leaving some love on my blog besties pages, so I'm going to try to do more of that when I'm finished here.  Oh and I'll mention it here since I did there too!  I've got three guest bloggers lined up for the first week in January when my bestie is here visiting, so if anyone is interested, let me know!

Tomorrow the youngling has to take her ACT test at the school, so it's another early morning for the Mama Kitty.  I'm gonna so go back to bed though and hiberate after that.  No school, no work, she's heading to the evil, horrid, terrible boyfriends house, or so I'm told now.  Who knows.

So I guess that's all for the day, thanks for all the comments and lovies from yesterday, you guys are so totally awesome it's ridiculous!

Until next time, Toodles!

Oh Noes!

I'm sicky!  Again.  Ugh.

Not bad though, but that's why I was feeling so icky yesterday I think.

On the plus side, I did get the rest of the decorations up, I got the trash ready to take to the dump, I got the bed made, did some Christmas shopping for my mother, got the youngling picked up from work, cheated on dinner and stopped at BK, fed the neighbors cat, AND got cat food!  As much as I wanted to crawl in the younglings' water bed, I resisted and actually felt pretty accomplished at the end of the day when I crawled in to my fresh newly made bed and promptly passed out.

Unfortunately, that's when I decided that I was sicky.  A cold or maybe bronchitis left over from being sick as a dog earlier this month.  I went to sleep great, but woke up sometime in the middle of the night having as asthma attack and attempting to cough up not one, but both lungs.  Nose stopped up, achy, congested, icky.

Today has been a little bit better, got some errands run, got the youngling from school and to work again which is making me wish she could drive even though I'm having nightmares of 900 car pile-ups with her as the cause.  I did not however, go back out into the cold to freeze my arse off while figuring out how come only one third of the outside tree is lit.  Our neighbors will just have to deal for a while.

I wrote my post for my other blog, and got around a wee bit there leaving some love on my blog besties pages, so I'm going to try to do more of that when I'm finished here.  Oh and I'll mention it here since I did there too!  I've got three guest bloggers lined up for the first week in January when my bestie is here visiting, so if anyone is interested, let me know!

Tomorrow the youngling has to take her ACT test at the school, so it's another early morning for the Mama Kitty.  I'm gonna so go back to bed though and hiberate after that.  No school, no work, she's heading to the evil, horrid, terrible boyfriends house, or so I'm told now.  Who knows.

So I guess that's all for the day, thanks for all the comments and lovies from yesterday, you guys are so totally awesome it's ridiculous!

Until next time, Toodles!

So Many Thoughts, So Little.....

Time?  Motivation?  Desire?  Waking hours?

I don't know, maybe it's just the snow this morning that's making me giddy and about as cognitive as a WallyWorld employee.  This will be Lesson....umm....hell I don't know, a lesson about me for all you who are just getting to know me.

I love snow.

Like fat kids love cake.

Like pervs love porn.

Like dogs love licking their butts.

Like TSA employees love breasts.

Like Jeffrey Dahmer.....wait.....no.

Anyway, you get the picture.  So yet again this morning I'm aaaaaall over the place.  I've been finding so many incredible blogs and reading what you're writing and your lovely comments have all validated my randomness, so in a way it's all your fault.  Really.  I'm serious.

So what's today?  Sunday?  I think?

Kiddo goes to work at 2 today so I have an extra hour.  Was still up earlier than I wanted to be though.  Naps lately have been plagued by that "Oh shit, I've still gotta (insert chore of your choice here) before I go get the youngling!"  Hate it when that happens.  I try to sleep through it, but it just keeps poking me in the back of my eyelids until I haul my rear outta bed and pretend to do whatever it was I was thinking about doing.

It's hard to focus when you've got kitten cats who are seeing snow for the first time.  They go outside and you can actually see the "WTF!" look on their little faces!  Almost as good as the ever popular snow cat tossing.  Don't worry, if we get any snow you'll see that too.  If Peta comes knocking?  You haven't seen me.  I love my babies, even if the hubby is harboring evil thoughts about them.

I've been mopping my kitchen floor for three days now.  By the time I get done, I'll need to start over again.  Told the hubby last night if it takes me this long to clean every room in the house, we're screwed.  I'm just really not into it.  The floor needs replacing so it doesn't look beautiful even when it's spotless.  Oh well.

I will say that I did some other stuff I put on my list earlier this week.  I've got more than two boxes of stuff packed up to give away.  I cleaned the windows in the kitchen and cleaned out the buffet.  Not on my list.  Blame lack of focus and random acts of housecleaning for that.

Haven't touched the laundry though.   There's SNOW outside and damnit, you can't see it from the closet!

OH OH OH, I started my daughter's zombie Barbie.  Bought an el-cheapo Barbie at WallyWorld yesterday and stripped her and painted her ummm....zombie color.  Ripped her clothes up and when the ground thaws she's gonna get dumped in a hole for a spin or two.  I still need to do some touch up painting, she just looks too damn happy to be a zombie.  Mattel has some seriously happy doll designers if Barbie's face is any indication.  Hubby was laughing at me because I was wondering what's inside her arms and legs to make them bendy, and if she'd go up in flames if I tried to burn the edges of a severed arm.  Decided I'll take a flame to her over the kitchen sink.  Just in case.

Still no window fires so we're all good on that front.

Have any of you guys got Christmas tattoos?  I was thinking last night about putting a little Christmas mouse somewhere.  Who am I kidding, I can't afford ink.  That would rock though, admit it!

I still want to take pictures of the hubby's and youngling's favorite ornaments and post them here.  I was thinking about doing a "growing up" theme for my youngling.  We've got ornaments for her from Bambi to a wooden hedgehog.  Yes, I have a hedgehog on my tree.  He's kinda cute actually.

I want to do one of those picture challenges I found earlier today!  It's got a theme, like "In my house" and "Time" and stuff like that.  It'd be fun!  Oh and I still need to load all the pictures youngling took in her bathroom onto my photobucket account!  And take a picture of her with her new bunny since the yearbook staff is doing a page of Seniors and their animals.  She's already in the tattoos and piercings page.  And the jobs page.  And the art page.  Hopefully the "Students recently accepted at VCU with a full scholarship" page too.  That'd be wicked sweet.

Well, if you're still here, you deserve a cuppa something, so go grab it, but first?  Leave me lovies to make me happy!  I love lovies!  Maybe on my other blog I'll make some sense today, but maybe not.

There's SNOW on the ground, and it's melting fast so until it's gone, this is the best its gonna get!

Much lovies!  Toodles for now!

So Many Thoughts, So Little.....

Time?  Motivation?  Desire?  Waking hours?

I don't know, maybe it's just the snow this morning that's making me giddy and about as cognitive as a WallyWorld employee.  This will be Lesson....umm....hell I don't know, a lesson about me for all you who are just getting to know me.

I love snow.

Like fat kids love cake.

Like pervs love porn.

Like dogs love licking their butts.

Like TSA employees love breasts.

Like Jeffrey Dahmer.....wait.....no.

Anyway, you get the picture.  So yet again this morning I'm aaaaaall over the place.  I've been finding so many incredible blogs and reading what you're writing and your lovely comments have all validated my randomness, so in a way it's all your fault.  Really.  I'm serious.

So what's today?  Sunday?  I think?

Kiddo goes to work at 2 today so I have an extra hour.  Was still up earlier than I wanted to be though.  Naps lately have been plagued by that "Oh shit, I've still gotta (insert chore of your choice here) before I go get the youngling!"  Hate it when that happens.  I try to sleep through it, but it just keeps poking me in the back of my eyelids until I haul my rear outta bed and pretend to do whatever it was I was thinking about doing.

It's hard to focus when you've got kitten cats who are seeing snow for the first time.  They go outside and you can actually see the "WTF!" look on their little faces!  Almost as good as the ever popular snow cat tossing.  Don't worry, if we get any snow you'll see that too.  If Peta comes knocking?  You haven't seen me.  I love my babies, even if the hubby is harboring evil thoughts about them.

I've been mopping my kitchen floor for three days now.  By the time I get done, I'll need to start over again.  Told the hubby last night if it takes me this long to clean every room in the house, we're screwed.  I'm just really not into it.  The floor needs replacing so it doesn't look beautiful even when it's spotless.  Oh well.

I will say that I did some other stuff I put on my list earlier this week.  I've got more than two boxes of stuff packed up to give away.  I cleaned the windows in the kitchen and cleaned out the buffet.  Not on my list.  Blame lack of focus and random acts of housecleaning for that.

Haven't touched the laundry though.   There's SNOW outside and damnit, you can't see it from the closet!

OH OH OH, I started my daughter's zombie Barbie.  Bought an el-cheapo Barbie at WallyWorld yesterday and stripped her and painted her ummm....zombie color.  Ripped her clothes up and when the ground thaws she's gonna get dumped in a hole for a spin or two.  I still need to do some touch up painting, she just looks too damn happy to be a zombie.  Mattel has some seriously happy doll designers if Barbie's face is any indication.  Hubby was laughing at me because I was wondering what's inside her arms and legs to make them bendy, and if she'd go up in flames if I tried to burn the edges of a severed arm.  Decided I'll take a flame to her over the kitchen sink.  Just in case.

Still no window fires so we're all good on that front.

Have any of you guys got Christmas tattoos?  I was thinking last night about putting a little Christmas mouse somewhere.  Who am I kidding, I can't afford ink.  That would rock though, admit it!

I still want to take pictures of the hubby's and youngling's favorite ornaments and post them here.  I was thinking about doing a "growing up" theme for my youngling.  We've got ornaments for her from Bambi to a wooden hedgehog.  Yes, I have a hedgehog on my tree.  He's kinda cute actually.

I want to do one of those picture challenges I found earlier today!  It's got a theme, like "In my house" and "Time" and stuff like that.  It'd be fun!  Oh and I still need to load all the pictures youngling took in her bathroom onto my photobucket account!  And take a picture of her with her new bunny since the yearbook staff is doing a page of Seniors and their animals.  She's already in the tattoos and piercings page.  And the jobs page.  And the art page.  Hopefully the "Students recently accepted at VCU with a full scholarship" page too.  That'd be wicked sweet.

Well, if you're still here, you deserve a cuppa something, so go grab it, but first?  Leave me lovies to make me happy!  I love lovies!  Maybe on my other blog I'll make some sense today, but maybe not.

There's SNOW on the ground, and it's melting fast so until it's gone, this is the best its gonna get!

Much lovies!  Toodles for now!

Inspiration of the PinUp Variety

Starting a new blog is like giving birth.

You get this idea in your head, and then it scratches and claws its way out of you until you've got something you're proud to put out there to show the masses.

I'll remind you now that the proper response is to "Oooooh" and "Ahhhhh".  Thank you very much.

With that thought in mind, I thought I'd share some of my inspiration for the look and feel of this blog, well and I love the art so it works.

I'll be using some of these pieces to change the feel of the blog for certain events and seasons so check back often and enjoy the show!

Inspiration of the PinUp Variety

Starting a new blog is like giving birth.

You get this idea in your head, and then it scratches and claws its way out of you until you've got something you're proud to put out there to show the masses.

I'll remind you now that the proper response is to "Oooooh" and "Ahhhhh".  Thank you very much.

With that thought in mind, I thought I'd share some of my inspiration for the look and feel of this blog, well and I love the art so it works.

I'll be using some of these pieces to change the feel of the blog for certain events and seasons so check back often and enjoy the show!