Friday, April 13, 2012

Coffee and Provocation



Terrierists:  It's Time to Rip Off the Insurance Industry:
It's time the pet insurance industry was made to subsidize terrier work.  In the UK, TescoBank pet insurance writes;  “Pet insurance doesn't have to be expensive. This option gives you essential cover - so if your pet is involved in an accident and hurt or is attacked by another animal, we'll cover your veterinary fees up to £3,000 per injury caused by an accident for up to 12 months from the first date of the injury or up to the vet fee limit, whichever happens first.”

Goodby Merial Hello PetArmour and PetTrust:
A group of former Merial pharmaceutical executives have left to start "FidoPharm" which is now making the generic versions of Frontline -- the same stuff at a lower price.  Is "PetArmor" really "half the price" as advertised?  Maybe.  That depends on what you were paying for Frontline.  FidoPharm is also selling PetTrust which is the generic version of Heartgard Plus. Again, it's the exact same stuff at less money.

Your Robot Overlords:
Will Robot Overlords patrol our forests for fire?  Count on it.  They will probably plow our fields too.

Why E-books are Not as Cheap as You Imagine:
One reason e-books are expensive is because paper does not cost very much.  If you want book to cost less, then we have to cut out author advances, design, marketing, publicity, office space, and staff.  Of course, the other reason that e-books cost more than you would think is that there has been massive price-rigging fraud going on.  The U.S. Department of Justice is on top of it.  Maybe.

Priorities:
The latest Indian census reveals the population of that country is more likely to own a cellphone than have a toilet at home.

Sleep Deep With Your Gun Safe Close at Hand:
How about a gun safe that doubles as a box spring?  Perfect for the responsible small-house paranoid!

Your State is #1 in What?
Virginia has the best high school in the country.  Maryland has the wealthiest families.  West Virignia is tops in toothlessness. North Carolina is tops in sweet potato production.  Alaska is tops in suicides.  Maine has the lowest incarceration rate.  Pennsylvania is tops in deer collisions.  Check out the rest!

Coffee bars in the U.K. in 1959:
Coffee is an American drink, and tea is for the British.  Here's why.

3 comments:

Funder said...

The link for "your state is #1" goes back to the Atlantic article about fire robots.

PBurns said...

THANKS! Fixed that. A bonus link is this New York Times story on the $1.2 billion verdict in Arkansas on a single atypical antipsychotic drug that would never been approved by the FDA if the company had not lied. I get a quote. >> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/business/drug-giant-is-fined-1-2-billion-in-arkansas.xml

P

Ruth said...

Thing with ebooks, I wouldn't object to paying the SAME as the price for the deadtree book, I just have massive issues with paying MORE than the MSRP of the deadtree book. They might not be less costly to produce (though there's more to it than the lack of cost of paper, printing costs in general for example), but there's no way you're going to convince me that any newly released deadtree book also released as an ebook has a higher cost on the ebook.