News for today's 2018: 12/30/12

2012: A Year of Fail

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hola y'all! Last year, as a part of our thrilling and hilarious <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/search/label/MSJS" target="_blank">Matt Said Jay Said series</a>, Matt-Man and I posted our <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2011/12/matt-said-jay-said-xix-new-years.html" target="_blank">New Year’s Resolutions for 2012</a>.<br /><br />So let’s see how I did this year… <br /><br /><b>1. Be more organized and set deadlines for writing blog posts and stuff for the show.</b><br /><br /><i>Results are pretty mixed on this one. I did a little better for part of the year but kind of ran out of steam late in the year when nothing was going on and internets were kind of slow. </i><br /><br /><b>2. Cut back dramatically on the frozen pizzas, chips, soft drinks and alcohol. </b><br /><br /><i>*snort* Yeah, this one goes as a fail. Maybe I’ll try again in 2013</i><br /><br /><b>3. Develop an impressive, yet not too expensive, daily cocaine habit. </b><br /><br /><i>DONE BITCHES! </i><br /><br /><b>4. Double my Twitter followers, Facebook friends and triple Tumblr followers. </b><br /><br /><i>Well, I don’t know what my follower counts were on Jan 1, and even though it seems like I’m obsessed with them, I’m not.  I will say that it’s frustrating to keep hitting 200 “friends” on Facebook only to get defriended by a few people. It’s happened four times now. Anyway, probably a FAIL on this one too. </i><br /><br /><b>5. Learn to sing, play guitar and/or piano and tap dance. </b><br /><br /><i>I’ve only made progress on the tap dancing part of this one. </i><br /><br /><b>6. Run a marathon</b><br /><br /><i>Hahahaha … I must have been high when I wrote that. </i><br /><i><br /></i><b>7. Work harder and maintaining and improving relationships and actually interact more.</b><br /><br /><i>Honestly, I haven’t done too badly on this one. The big downside to doing this is having to deal with rejection, but I will continue to work on it in 2013. </i><br /><br /><b>8. Do at least one IWS podcast while in the same location as Matt-Man.</b><br /><br /><b>Completely failed. Will attempt again in 2013. </b><br /><br /><b>9. Master the art of ventriloquism. </b><br /><br /><i>I changed my mind on this one. I didn’t want to risk being associated with not-funny Jeff Dunham and his racist puppets. </i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZJyduXjrRcrFWjhprd67r_hq8LI7ETp2JjWyKcSPybNJd2cZA0zem7rJxJZBO8VyA3-lE4Pl2Kf5axtlWD-Hmo8e5iCDVKTAB5LFU1_AKyk4QOR2181Vwb4Co0hXk1ugDlqjf-Hu5AI/s1600/Kimora+Lee+Simmons+Bikini+Nude+Hot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZJyduXjrRcrFWjhprd67r_hq8LI7ETp2JjWyKcSPybNJd2cZA0zem7rJxJZBO8VyA3-lE4Pl2Kf5axtlWD-Hmo8e5iCDVKTAB5LFU1_AKyk4QOR2181Vwb4Co0hXk1ugDlqjf-Hu5AI/s400/Kimora+Lee+Simmons+Bikini+Nude+Hot.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><b>10. Get all restraining orders lifted. </b><br /><br /><i>Progress was made. Some have expired and no new ones were issued. I’m still able to follow both Miley Cyrus and Giada de Laurentiis on Twitter without having any legal action taken. Sure <a href="http://www.artmustdie.me/" target="_blank">Jo</a> might be considering talking to her lawyer, but as of right now, things appear good on the legal front. </i><br /><br /><b>11. Work on learning new and different writing styles.</b><br /><br /><i>Eh. I should put out a little more effort on this front. We’ll call this one a Mostly Failed. </i><br /><br /><b>12. Improve the technical aspects of the show by getting rid of the cheap headset and acquiring a good USB condenser mic with a filter and possibly a mixer. </b><br /><br /><i>I didn’t get a new mic because, well, they’re expensive, but considering that we’re using a landline, Google Talk and BTR’s system, I think the tech side of the show is actually fairly good right now for most shows. There are times when either GTalk or BTR cause problems, but I’m not sure there will ever be a way of avoiding that. </i><br /><br />So, as you can see I didn’t do so ba … oh jeez … I really sucked in 2012. What a fucking failure I am. Oh God! It’s definitely time to make some changes. I think I start with never being stupid enough to post my Resolutions online again. <br /><br />There! That makes me feel a lot better already. <br /><br />Jayman<br /><a href="mailto:Jayman3768@gmail.com">Jayman3768@gmail.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.twitter.com/jayman_iws" target="_blank">@Jayman_IWS</a><br /><br />Also, in case you missed it Sunday’s <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid/2012/12/30/good-riddance-2012" target="_blank">Good Riddance to 2012</a> on I’m With Stupid was freaking hilarious. We got calls from <a href="https://twitter.com/_JustinHenry_/" target="_blank">Justin</a> in Kentucky, Missy in Ohio and <a href="http://mikenet707.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mike</a> in St. Louis. We talked about dumpster fires, how much 2012 sucked, how 2013 isn’t looking any better, the Captain and Tennille and the possible impending death Daryl Dragon. All that and so, so much more. Check it out! <br /><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="105" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4194013&autostart=false&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fshow_id%3D4194013&autostart=false&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=105&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="105" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio<br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div>

2012: A Year of Fail

Hola y'all! Last year, as a part of our thrilling and hilarious Matt Said Jay Said series, Matt-Man and I posted our New Year’s Resolutions for 2012.So let’s see how I did this year… 1. Be more organized and set deadlines for writing blog posts and s…

Goose is on the loose!

2:41 PM Tukiyooo 0

<p>Check out this giant bottle of Grey Goose!  It's 1.75ml!!!</p><p>To combat a hangover I drink Coconut Water. Delish! ;-)</p><div class='separator' style='clear: both; text-align: center;'> <a href='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_ngQliDhfhaL9SJX7rjHqCOskO70wO0DQYPYwfiQzqiehkxxmlesoZYEbtKJFxU4PnLhsHRadze1Wn7mEPVoudSWsGX2DbYmMdqXL_-3cq4I3HtI1YKzWZ_zWYxkaryPFq8csWItESpz/s1600/20121230_223539.jpg' imageanchor='1' style='margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;'> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_ngQliDhfhaL9SJX7rjHqCOskO70wO0DQYPYwfiQzqiehkxxmlesoZYEbtKJFxU4PnLhsHRadze1Wn7mEPVoudSWsGX2DbYmMdqXL_-3cq4I3HtI1YKzWZ_zWYxkaryPFq8csWItESpz/s400/20121230_223539.jpg" /> </a> </div><div class='separator' style='clear: both; text-align: center;'> <a href='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ksicX7oC_SY-D5K1pXHs2_u4OHZkNvIErIjbZtMNCuZi1aQBjGnT476WrbJfv_3sM87lduvAm8CSygpWKT-BzcxwDcTdM1-YKtcNAbi6AB7j7Oxf00iUMim3doXBGMm3h3v9dvhykYyQ/s1600/20121230_223358.jpg' imageanchor='1' style='margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;'> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ksicX7oC_SY-D5K1pXHs2_u4OHZkNvIErIjbZtMNCuZi1aQBjGnT476WrbJfv_3sM87lduvAm8CSygpWKT-BzcxwDcTdM1-YKtcNAbi6AB7j7Oxf00iUMim3doXBGMm3h3v9dvhykYyQ/s400/20121230_223358.jpg" /> </a> </div>

Goose is on the loose!

Check out this giant bottle of Grey Goose! It's 1.75ml!!!To combat a hangover I drink Coconut Water. Delish! ;-) …

KOSOVO: NATURAL RESOURCES JACKPOT?

1:27 PM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrt6he-wOSiqT5S-tT7Wdn1zxmMDt7MuOWLSHj0QGlYmc5AuycWy25Ean2iDV_6vyxmE1iddLdpaIqg9xma_lRc9Ym7LWdtvAQ5aInWn8rTBJ5T1ltjzP3MQKBXilVAV5PR-iNzatRLmza/s1600/rs-ks@al.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrt6he-wOSiqT5S-tT7Wdn1zxmMDt7MuOWLSHj0QGlYmc5AuycWy25Ean2iDV_6vyxmE1iddLdpaIqg9xma_lRc9Ym7LWdtvAQ5aInWn8rTBJ5T1ltjzP3MQKBXilVAV5PR-iNzatRLmza/s320/rs-ks@al.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">FIRE SALE: “PRIVATIZING” KOSOVO, THE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT WAY</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Source: GSI</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Balkan states of ALBANIA and KOSOVO are, without doubt, the most pro-AMERICAN Muslim-majority countries in the world.</span> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">According to a new census including religious affiliation – the first since 1930 – ALBANIA now counts 57% of its total population of 2.8 million as Muslim, down from 70% eighty-two years ago. Its Catholic population has remained stable at 10%, and ALBANIAN citizens identifying themselves as Orthodox Christians have fallen from 20% in 1930 to about 7%.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Although KOSOVO does not tally figures for religious communities, the Muslim share of the population is thought to be larger, at around 80%. Both republics are secular.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH PRESSURE ON ALBANIA TO VOTE “YES” FOR PALESTINIAN OBSERVER SEAT IN THE UNITED NATIONS</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AMERICANS are beloved in ALBANIA thanks to a significant history of ALBANIAN immigration and success in AMERICA, and early contributions by ALBANIANS in the U.S. to the national movement for freedom from the OTTOMAN EMPIRE. At the end of November, the ALBANIAN government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha was prepared to vote with the U.S. against a Palestinian observer seat in the United Nations, and, following unsuccessful pressure to vote “yes,” from the TURKISH Islamist prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ALBANIA became the sole Muslim-majority UN member to abstain on the Palestinian issue.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">KOSOVO does not belong to the UN, although if it did, it might likely have followed the AMERICAN lead and voted against the Palestinian bid, which was supported, among the ex-YUGOSLAV successor states, only by SERBIA. The ALBANIANS of KOSOVO have expressed undiluted appreciation for the actions of the Clinton administration, represented by then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and former General Wesley Clark as Supreme Allied Commander for Europe at NATO, in the 1998-99 military intervention that rescued the KOSOVAR ALBANIANS from SERBIAN repression.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Its pro-AMERICAN stance has caused the KOSOVO Republic to be denied diplomatic recognition by most of the Arab states. The late LIBYAN dictator Mu’ammar Al-Qadhdhafi dismissed the KOSOVARS contemptuously as “AMERICAN lapdogs.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ENERGY QUEST: KOSOVO</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Recently, however, Albright and others have commenced new efforts at involvement in KOSOVO that left local people concerned about the intentions of their benefactors of more than a decade past. In <i>The New York Times</i> on December 12, Matthew Brunwasser wrote under a page-one headline, “That Crush at KOSOVO’S Business Door? The Return of U.S. Heroes.” The <i>Times</i> account described Albright and James W. Pardew, a special envoy sent to the Balkans by President Bill Clinton, offering competing bids for privatization of the KOSOVO state postal and telecommunications agency, known as PTK (from its ALBANIAN and SERBIAN initials).</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">KOSOVO COAL MINES: POTENTIAL FOR SYNTHETIC FUEL PRODUCTION</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT8QSUslH33rD9UP2lUPJtE3tYdN6HdT8tyqx1hPWCvHWBfe6BVJnEdE7dZteymv7v99kqOBBrswedpdt3bKDbSWjwZDvVCPy4gLiboAtn2tSg9QA72GmQMRNWJDF_PZJ3AohOCxVd3UO/s1600/Outcrop_Showing_Layering_of_Lignite_and_Consolidated_Calcareous_Mud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCT8QSUslH33rD9UP2lUPJtE3tYdN6HdT8tyqx1hPWCvHWBfe6BVJnEdE7dZteymv7v99kqOBBrswedpdt3bKDbSWjwZDvVCPy4gLiboAtn2tSg9QA72GmQMRNWJDF_PZJ3AohOCxVd3UO/s1600/Outcrop_Showing_Layering_of_Lignite_and_Consolidated_Calcareous_Mud.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coal mining in Kosovo</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">General Wesley Clark, chairman of Envidity, a CANADIAN firm interested in KOSOVO’S coal mines and potential for synthetic fuel production, has also gone to KOSOVO in search of financial advantage. </span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But Albright’s involvement has given her the highest profile in the discussion of KOSOVO’S economic future. According to the <i>Times</i>, “Albright Capital Management, founded by Ms. Albright, has been shortlisted in the bidding for a 75 % share in PTK.” </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The<i>Times</i> estimates the probable payout to KOSOVO political leaders for PTK, if a deal is consummated, at “between $400 million and $800 million.” Officials of another Albright entity, Albright Stonebridge Group, have a minor share in PTK’s only competitor, the private company IPKO, based in SLOVENIA. <i>Times</i> correspondent Brunwasser wrote that the situation could “threaten… market competition if Ms. Albright’s consortium wins the bid” for PTK.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Privatization in post-Communist economies often presents multiple problems: State enterprises may be handed over to individuals or groups favored by the prior dictatorial authorities, as has allegedly occurred in SLOVAKIA, previously a part of CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Government-owned companies may also be privatized, turned profitable, and then re-nationalized by authoritarian rulers. In RUSSIA, the Yukos oil company was branded an example of “oligarchic privatization” and taken over by the government of Vladimir Putin, only to be bankrupted between 2003-2007.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“VOUCHER” PRIVATIZATION</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The abolition of statist “command” economics has most often been considered a positive outcome in any context. Some observers have advocated “voucher” privatization, through which shares in government-controlled companies are distributed to all the citizens of a country, either free or at a low cost. “Voucher” privatization succeeded most notably in the CZECH Republic.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">KOSOVO is among the poorest countries in EUROPE, with the growth of its economy hampered by the failure of the “supervising” international authorities, with titles like the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in KOSOVO (UNMIK) and the EUROPEAN Union Rule of Law Mission in KOSOVO (EULEX). </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They have imposed all of KOSOVO’S most important political decisions, but these have left the country in a calculated stasis since the end of the 1998-99 war. They have interfered with media, elections, and border relations with SERBIA, but have neglected to reform KOSOVO’S financial regulations or even to settle who owns various industries, such as the large-scale Trepca mining complex in northern KOSOVO. Trepca, which produced lead, zinc, gold, silver, and rare minerals, is the object of opposing claims of proprietorship by SERBIA and KOSOVO; it also owes about 40 million Euros to FRENCH, GREEK, and BULGARIAN companies. Similar state assets are KEK, the KOSOVO Energy Corporation, and its subsidiary KEDS, or KOSOVO Electricity Distribution.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">TURKISH STRONGHOLD IN KOSOVO</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">In June 2012, KEDS was sold by the KOSOVO government to a TURKISH consortium, Limak Yatirim Enerji and Calik Enerji Sanayi. <b>Limak owns KOSOVO’S only international airport. Limak also purchased KEDS for 26 million Euros</b>, although its capitalization totaled 180 million Euros. Economic analysts criticized a lack of transparency in the transfer to TURKISH control. KOSOVO still suffers frequent electrical power outages.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Unemployment in KOSOVO is estimated officially at around 50%, although local reporting suggests it is closer to 60%.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When Albright and other humanitarian liberators appear in KOSOVO as “privatizers,” questions are bound to be asked. Although “entrepreneurship” usually means investment and expansion of commerce, in the absence of a secure domestic financial system and other guarantees for legitimate and desirable foreign ventures, KOSOVO’S economy continues to shrink. As a prominent Democrat and Clinton administration figure, Albright is associated with that party’s strident rhetoric against the free market in the 2012 AMERICAN presidential election, including allegations of Republican corporate looting and similar “heartless” practices.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmdeO5X-Gpz_AsjaUeSsiMLtNTCv7OhPqWx-j6dS18UhMUErll7qzC1hp6YUXh0K54x4dYnnNS_gYzXo2NQQbrZSBe8BZC8cwUOGg456sKJo97tQ1Uk4oUl_VgnoI5ZzDlLfBAtpqaaeh/s1600/kos_UNMIKmine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmdeO5X-Gpz_AsjaUeSsiMLtNTCv7OhPqWx-j6dS18UhMUErll7qzC1hp6YUXh0K54x4dYnnNS_gYzXo2NQQbrZSBe8BZC8cwUOGg456sKJo97tQ1Uk4oUl_VgnoI5ZzDlLfBAtpqaaeh/s640/kos_UNMIKmine.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is difficult for some KOSOVAR political leaders to imagine that Albright’s leap into their economy would create jobs, greater efficiency, and modernization of infrastructure. The KOSOVO “Self-Determination” movement, which is represented in the republic’s parliamentary opposition and which stands for a maximum standard of independence for the country, issued an open letter to the KOSOVAR public. It appealed for e-mails to be sent to prospective bidders for privatization of PTK, criticizing the project for the sell-off of the post and telecoms agency. “Self-Determination” warned that properties were being offered for sale as if they were the private holdings of politicians, rather than resources of all KOSOVO residents.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The “Self-Determination” representatives argued that Kosovo’s leaders aim to drive down the value of the state assets, so that they may be expropriated and sold. “Privatization is a name behind which these officials hide,” the opposition advocates declared. The call by leaders of “Self-Determination” for protests against privatization behind the backs of the populace led to accusations that “Self-Determination” is a violent, anti-American movement.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Albin Kurti, a young philosopher and the articulate founder of “Self-Determination,” refuted in late December charges by U.S. ambassador Tracey-Anne Jacobson that he and his colleagues threatened Madeleine Albright. The leaders of “Self-Determination” pointed out that after they published their letter in September against a distorted privatization, they met with Albright in Kosovo in November. “Self-Determination” did not oppose her visit, or threaten her as Ambassador Jacobson alleged. Kurti has insisted that he and his colleagues respect American principles of freedom, independence, and public responsibility.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The friendship of Kosovo, as a Muslim-majority state, is a major benefit for American foreign policy. The Balkan republic has resisted Islamist radicalization, excluded religion from public education, and acted to protect women’s rights.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Background Information</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">: See <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/kosovo.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/kosovo.html</a></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Comment by <span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: red;"><b>GEOPOLITICAL ANALYSIS AND MONITORING</b></span>:</span>  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">PART OF THE KOSOVO PROBLEM HAS ALWAYS BEEN NATURAL RESOURCES</span></b></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Though not admitted officially……….</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">The vast amounts of Mineral deposits in KOSOVO have and still are part of the problems the small country faces, asides of ethnic and religious differences. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">KOSOVO POSSESSES THE WORLD'S FIFTH-LARGEST PROVEN RESERVES OF LIGNITE;</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="color: blue;">KOSOVO also has substantial amounts of other natural resources such as </span></span><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">lead, zinc, gold, silver, rare minerals and allegedly uranium. See Mineral Deposits <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kosovo">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kosovo</a>. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">It is alleged that the USA built Balkans largest army base, <b>Camp Bondsteel</b> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Bondsteel">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Bondsteel</a>deliberately on top of a large uranium ore basin in KOSOVO.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">In view of these facts it becomes obvious that the northern SERBIAN enclaves of KOSOVO, Mitrovica <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovska_Mitrovica">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovska_Mitrovica</a>etc. where the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Trepca mining complex is located insist on “reuniting” with SERBIA and that certain USA entities once again want to make sure to keep a foothold in the region in case, rare minerals, lignite and uranium indeed are available in quantities worthwhile to extract, pending increased market demands for afore mentioned minerals. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><b>CONTROVERSIAL OPPOSITION FIGURE: ALBIN KURTI </b></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">Albin Kurti</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albin_Kurti">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albin_Kurti</a>, has been and still is a controversial figure in KOSOVO. According to known sources Kurti allegedly fosters ties to certain radical UCK </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Liberation_Army">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Liberation_Army</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">entities that still are active today and who envision a GREATER ALBANIA  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Albania">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Albania</a>as well as having alleged ties to organized crime groups that terrorize communities, and ties to radical Islamic factions in KOSOVO as well as the notorious </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">SANDŽAK</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> region in MONTENEGRO. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kCUFbJzWriy9RE62mRi4zscjevuECi1hk1LzL1GnmHMPpMkTuf2rqGuoDw94Yqxcv6BhE2cm5zLmQj_V_cgcm2f1pmajf2LzEPu5Z7KO9tYqNszU8idNOj3HER1r1Q1EQZkYW0DlwB6e/s1600/Ethnic_albania.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kCUFbJzWriy9RE62mRi4zscjevuECi1hk1LzL1GnmHMPpMkTuf2rqGuoDw94Yqxcv6BhE2cm5zLmQj_V_cgcm2f1pmajf2LzEPu5Z7KO9tYqNszU8idNOj3HER1r1Q1EQZkYW0DlwB6e/s400/Ethnic_albania.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vision of <span style="font-size: x-small;">"</span>Greater Albania"</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">See </span><cite><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.bmlv.gv.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/crime_omero.pdf"><span style="font-style: normal;">www.bmlv.gv.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/</span><b><span style="font-style: normal;">crime</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;">_omero.pdf</span></a>and </span></cite><cite><b><span style="font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">S</span></b></cite><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">andžak region, not only the gateway for Balkans organized crime syndicates, but also for spreading Wahhbism to Europe?</span></b><cite><span style="line-height: 115%;"> <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina-part-4.html"><span style="font-style: normal;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/08/wahhabism-in-bosnia-herzegovina-part-4.html</span></a></span></cite></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">SANDŽAK IS AN IMPOVERISHED REGION IN SOUTHERN SERBIA</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aHFZ2Tz_ExFQSQx53XsHveJLknmlV-V7M8YkWwF8-_129x6M4YzAkZTEBrcNvgGk9UfOnAi9o6IERhWnwceJDV5FiqAGUrjiuRe5b2MlFcn7FNEk8feMKNr-1FMmi3L_spsDAKMajeZ4/s1600/sandzakregion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aHFZ2Tz_ExFQSQx53XsHveJLknmlV-V7M8YkWwF8-_129x6M4YzAkZTEBrcNvgGk9UfOnAi9o6IERhWnwceJDV5FiqAGUrjiuRe5b2MlFcn7FNEk8feMKNr-1FMmi3L_spsDAKMajeZ4/s400/sandzakregion.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">that is predominantly occupied with ethnic Bosniaks, (Bosnian Muslims)with the region technically extending into the northeastern part of MONTENEGRO as well. SANDŽAK is also populated with ALBANIANS within the Preševo Valley region. The citizens of SANDŽAK are fairly content with remaining a part of SERBIA, but have highlighted the dearth of economic activity, lack of political representation, and social woes (<b>mainly organized crime and drug use amongst the youth</b>) as primary obstacles for their communities. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">SLOW GROWING WAHHABI MOVEMENT </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">These two factors are also targeted as being a reason that various frustrated youth been drawn by the small Wahhabi movement that’s steadily growing in the region. SANDŽAK was treated as a special interest region during the BOSNIAN war, where (SERBIAN military) General Mladić was strictly forbidden from killing Muslims on SERBIAN territory. The bulk of the terror reigned on SANDŽAK’S citizens included harassment and humiliation techniques. But this didn’t stop many SANDŽAK locals from being forcibly bussed across the BOSNIAN border to be killed. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">The pre-war census in 1991 stated that approximately 224,000 BOSNIAKS were living in SANDŽAK, with between 60-80,000 SANDŽAK refugees leaving the region in 1992 to WESTERN EUROPEAN countries, according to UN sources. It is a tell-tale sign of the devastation that the region experienced less than 20 years ago. The region has experienced significant trauma, and growing poverty and perceived discrimination have aggravated existing inter-ethnic tensions in the country. These tensions are simmering, and while they are not an imminent threat to SERBIA and the regions’ stability, the region’s BOSNIAKS must have their overall standard of living improved to enhance other integration mechanisms.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

KOSOVO: NATURAL RESOURCES JACKPOT?

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12 Favorite Projects of 2012

12:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

For this last post of 2012, here are my dozen <b>favorite projects</b> from the 60 that were featured on my <a href="http://www.archidose.org/past.html">weekly</a> and <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/search/label/half%20dose">daily</a> pages in the last 12 months, listed in chronological order.<br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/01/16/pier-15/">Pier 15</a> in New York City by SHoP Architects:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/01/16/pier-15/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Jan12-16.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/02/20/childcare-center-maria-enzersdorf/">Childcare Center</a> in Maria Enzersdorf, Austria, by MAGK and illiz architektur:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/02/20/childcare-center-maria-enzersdorf/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Feb12/20/image01.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/03/20/la-lira/">La Lira</a> in Ripoll, Spain, by RCR Arquitectes:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/03/20/la-lira/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Mar12-19.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/03/26/coverage-of-archaeological-ruins-of-the-abbey-of-st-maurice/">Coverage of Archaeological Ruins of the Abbey of St. Maurice</a> in St. Maurice, Switzerland, by Savioz Fabrizze Architectes:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/03/26/coverage-of-archaeological-ruins-of-the-abbey-of-st-maurice/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Mar12/26/image02.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/04/02/alesia-museum-interpretive-center/">Alésia Archaelogical Museum</a> in Alise-Sainte-Reine, France, by Bernard Tschumi Architects:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/04/02/alesia-museum-interpretive-center/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Apr12/02/image02.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/04/09/viewing-tower/">Viewing Tower</a> in Reusel, the Netherlands, by Ateliereen architecten:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/04/09/viewing-tower/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Apr12/09/image01.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/05/29/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center/">Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center</a> in Brooklyn, New York, by WEISS/MANFREDI:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/05/29/brooklyn-botanic-garden-visitor-center/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/May12/29/image07.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/02/via-verde/">Via Verde</a> in the Bronx, New York, by Dattner Architects and Grimshaw:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/02/via-verde/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Jul12-02.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/16/arts-and-creative-platform/">Arts and Creative Platform</a> in Guimarães, Portugal, by Pitágoras Arquitectos:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/16/arts-and-creative-platform/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Jul12-16.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/30/butaro-hospital/">Butaro Hospital</a> in Butaro, Rwanda, by MASS Design Group:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/07/30/butaro-hospital/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://www.archidose.org/Jul12/30/image01.jpg" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/francis-a-gregory-neighborhood-library/">Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library</a> in Washington, D.C., by Adjaye Associates:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/10/15/francis-a-gregory-neighborhood-library/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Oct12-15.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/12/10/poetry-foundation/">Poetry Foundation</a> in Chicago, Illinois, by John Ronan Architects:<br /><a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2012/12/10/poetry-foundation/"><img alt="this       week's  dose" src="http://archidose.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Dec12-10.jpg" style="cursor: move;" title="This week's dose" width="640" /></a>

12 Favorite Projects of 2012

For this last post of 2012, here are my dozen favorite projects from the 60 that were featured on my weekly and daily pages in the last 12 months, listed in chronological order.Pier 15 in New York City by SHoP Architects:Childcare Center in Maria Enz…

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 12/30/2012

11:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/the-best-teacher-blogs-of-2012.html?m=1">Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: The Best Teacher Blogs of 2012</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">A list of the finalists for Best Teacher blog for 2012. I hate to say that the edublog award timing wasn't good for me, but school was so crazy and I had such  workload, I didn't mention it. I'm still very honored to be on the list of finalists - thank you to those of you readers who mentioned me and included me on the list - I really do appreciate it.More than that, it helps me help my family with this blogging that I do on the side. Thanks!</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/teaching">teaching</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='http://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='http://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Teach This! Teaching with lesson plans and ideas that rock 12/30/2012

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning: The Best Teacher Blogs of 2012 A list of the finalists for Best Teacher blog for 2012. I hate to say that the edublog award timing wasn't good for me, but school was s…

A Noir Year Begins...

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b1DDB1Rj6ryDm8pJT9N1a0z7gbynqtKfxLDY_CVXhzSB3gRgChu5i8TkvdOnndcItqBk-2swsLOJwR20N8YNw7fDIHqbHCfC2JSUdEKSWldo1I84xOg6Wz7iIuab_qra8GjMVcPn_Rk/s1600/Noir+City+XI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b1DDB1Rj6ryDm8pJT9N1a0z7gbynqtKfxLDY_CVXhzSB3gRgChu5i8TkvdOnndcItqBk-2swsLOJwR20N8YNw7fDIHqbHCfC2JSUdEKSWldo1I84xOg6Wz7iIuab_qra8GjMVcPn_Rk/s400/Noir+City+XI.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">January 2013 brings, at last, the much-anticipated Noir City XI, San Francisco's 11<sup>th</sup> annual film noir festival. Presented by the Film Noir Foundation at the city’s landmark movie palace, the Castro Theatre, the festival runs from January 25 – February 3 and will showcase 27 films!</span></span><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehayca4cPbOQIFjNMSaCn0wUgcajvj3Kum_zyT-FOh06P2MyfOuGhpvtyMAidl9RpwJ0D6deEKmwcomgBote3khou4VQih7wYasYACxz1FDKmFinQbobZBIM4mKX4WUXXBYGRrS6DYHc/s1600/Noir+City+Schedule.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehayca4cPbOQIFjNMSaCn0wUgcajvj3Kum_zyT-FOh06P2MyfOuGhpvtyMAidl9RpwJ0D6deEKmwcomgBote3khou4VQih7wYasYACxz1FDKmFinQbobZBIM4mKX4WUXXBYGRrS6DYHc/s400/Noir+City+Schedule.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Noir City XI begins with an opening night tribute to genre legend Peggy Cummins. Following Film Noir Foundation founder/<a href="http://www.eddiemuller.com/inprint.html"><b><span style="color: red;">author</span></b></a>/film historian Eddie Muller’s onstage interview with Miss Cummins, <i>Gun Crazy</i> (1950), the noir classic that made her an icon, will screen. Other festival highlights include three world premiere restorations along with the U.S. premiere of 4K digital restorations of <i>Sunset Blvd. </i>(1950) and <i>Experiment in Terror </i>(1962). Also premiering will be 4K digital restorations of two of 1953’s first 3-D films, <i>Inferno </i>and <i>Man in the Dark</i><i>.</i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">But wait, there’s more…</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROtlqPsoNY8Zo4G0O15zbZ2iwovG3eMRnY8nzM31UI9wzcFhMI6nez-y8ViJd_SfzVh4HmD3QNVfdqkjJaqYdAudDgWQgVeVodKQh7ntpOj9xsl2Sd_GhFA8QpL99yNRQekuyWYuBsNw/s1600/Noir+City+Party.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiROtlqPsoNY8Zo4G0O15zbZ2iwovG3eMRnY8nzM31UI9wzcFhMI6nez-y8ViJd_SfzVh4HmD3QNVfdqkjJaqYdAudDgWQgVeVodKQh7ntpOj9xsl2Sd_GhFA8QpL99yNRQekuyWYuBsNw/s320/Noir+City+Party.jpg" width="102" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Returning with the 2013 festival will be the Noir City Nightclub event, set for Saturday night, February 2, at San Francisco's Regency Lodge. There'll be music - from jazz to noir-pop to the torch stylings of songstress Laura Ellis - and dancing and cocktails <i>and</i> a walk on the wild side courtesy of "international striptease sensation" Evie Lovelle.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Czar of Noir</i> Eddie Muller, who not only founded the FNF in 2002 but also emcees the San Francisco festival (and nightclub), is <span style="font-size: small;">also about to</span> appear on Turner Classic Movies. Beginning at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific on Thursday, January 17, Muller will co-host "A Night in Noir City" with Robert Osborne. On the schedule are five films: <i>Cry Danger</i> (1951) starring Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming,<i> </i>Phil Karlson's <i>99 River Street </i>(1953) with John Payne and Evelyn Keyes, <i>Tomorrow is Another Day </i>(1951) with Steve Cochran and Ruth Roman, Michael Curtiz's <i>The Breaking Point</i> (1950) starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal and <i>The Prowler </i>(1951), directed by Joseph Losey and starring Van Heflin and Evelyn Keyes.</span><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBp5s8G66WUUtR9kr_5EqLM9eXKXipU_WQ4zgXBBoZLXxXhFpSMsVdQ9JmQp5-oHxmMXrnAB5UTQzjky9NlXQMw4ueNTKZRHOMhCtNxSdKxN1dDbZrxz3BWTy8id3pfMMC3zGbMtjxac/s1600/Osborne+and+Muller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBp5s8G66WUUtR9kr_5EqLM9eXKXipU_WQ4zgXBBoZLXxXhFpSMsVdQ9JmQp5-oHxmMXrnAB5UTQzjky9NlXQMw4ueNTKZRHOMhCtNxSdKxN1dDbZrxz3BWTy8id3pfMMC3zGbMtjxac/s400/Osborne+and+Muller.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Robert Osborne and Eddie Muller, <i>A Night in Noir City</i>, January 17</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">In his 1998 book <u>Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir</u>, Muller contended that among the many <span style="font-size: small;">film </span>varieties<span style="font-size: small;"> </span>to come out of the studio era, film noir held up best: "Film noir pointed toward the black core of corruption in our "civilized" society and our primitive essence. The struggle of the individual to transcend or escape provided the emotional tension. That's the theme that makes noir so compelling for the contemporary crowd." Muller was onto something, for over time film noir has proven to be a genre of lasting appeal. With each successive year, the popularity of Noir City has grown, its program schedule has expanded and the Film Noir Foundation has been able to restore ever more films. Today, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;">San Francisco's noir-fest is the kick off point for other film noir festivals around the country,  with Noir City events following in Seattle in February, Los Angeles in  April, Chicago in August and Washington, DC, in October.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.noircity.com/index.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Click here</b></span></span></a></span></span></span></span> <span style="color: black;">to learn more about Noir City</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><a href="http://www.noircity.com/foundation.html"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Click here</b></span></span></a> <span style="color: black;">to learn more about the Film Noir Foundation</span></span></span></span></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlTjWLl_WHVr178XvMV4daAWTjFf0nSNF944Jt99yyWUcGtODvax1uh6VvREyRce2qscg84oiXpqXVQtuD0Q6AUmTeKXuo4m646QaFCsXHSa97zSIAghyphenhyphenXV0CO9oxbZXVgGvZlTwidhc/s1600/Eddie-Muller-Gun-Crazy-star-Peggy-Cummins-485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlTjWLl_WHVr178XvMV4daAWTjFf0nSNF944Jt99yyWUcGtODvax1uh6VvREyRce2qscg84oiXpqXVQtuD0Q6AUmTeKXuo4m646QaFCsXHSa97zSIAghyphenhyphenXV0CO9oxbZXVgGvZlTwidhc/s320/Eddie-Muller-Gun-Crazy-star-Peggy-Cummins-485.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Peggy Cummins and Eddie Muller backstage at TCM's 2012 Classic Film Festival</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></span> </span></div>

January 2013 brings, at last, the much-anticipated Noir City XI, San Francisco's 11th annual film noir festival. Presented by the Film Noir Foundation at the city’s landmark movie palace, the Castro Theatre, the festival runs from January 25 – Februa…

IWS Babe of the Week...Year's End and Rear Ends

5:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">As we quickly approach year's end, now is the perfect time to celebrate some really sweet looking...rear ends...<br /><br />Many people today, when they think of ass, naturally think of Kim Kardashian...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HhRIwaz6It7_IS7NEa1HCkdr_G52WX1tnjbbmdfn7RkNJjlo4MbavmlbGuW9JqMEAYi1VyWWLfsuy9sjNnufzfFdOljz6x6_-ITtvkFE5YLB-hxD1e-PGdypr-bWl7foj14tZWUewug/s1600/Kim+Kardashian+Sexy+Nude+Ass.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HhRIwaz6It7_IS7NEa1HCkdr_G52WX1tnjbbmdfn7RkNJjlo4MbavmlbGuW9JqMEAYi1VyWWLfsuy9sjNnufzfFdOljz6x6_-ITtvkFE5YLB-hxD1e-PGdypr-bWl7foj14tZWUewug/s400/Kim+Kardashian+Sexy+Nude+Ass.png" width="276" /></a></div><br />Others may simply dream of the go to ass of Scarlett Johansson...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqsmGEazyXvRxjfFaEuXjCq7A-2w0yBEvN3GuW4SbbzoQrVOGTG8s-aQ0CxPqFrER-T51ib_vc8BKD999S2GymHSvw7t6G8YnOl_oK5v9-2YNdmKe56XF1dU0ZiGQVznQAHAm6O4P4QE/s1600/Scarlett+Johansson+Great+Ass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifqsmGEazyXvRxjfFaEuXjCq7A-2w0yBEvN3GuW4SbbzoQrVOGTG8s-aQ0CxPqFrER-T51ib_vc8BKD999S2GymHSvw7t6G8YnOl_oK5v9-2YNdmKe56XF1dU0ZiGQVznQAHAm6O4P4QE/s400/Scarlett+Johansson+Great+Ass.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Megan Fox doesn't disappoint either, especially when she is kissing herself...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEt3v-QUJLSoqDnYSMpO1sXeuVe7ilCLtfe8nw3XgNibIhcSCif_Glko0W8Ch1InhZvLvc6OhKFccPqFauvU1hlt5ewmkXkx4RIupDVqauSZB7-v_lKlL3vJ96C9jit4JuWyE2iMZkR0A/s1600/Megan+Fox+Sexy+Nude+Ass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEt3v-QUJLSoqDnYSMpO1sXeuVe7ilCLtfe8nw3XgNibIhcSCif_Glko0W8Ch1InhZvLvc6OhKFccPqFauvU1hlt5ewmkXkx4RIupDVqauSZB7-v_lKlL3vJ96C9jit4JuWyE2iMZkR0A/s400/Megan+Fox+Sexy+Nude+Ass.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><br />Of course, a new and particular fave that IWS has discovered, is the delicious derriere of one Kate Upton...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9gY9n9tHCYLodzDfb1suX-FjrAf9rMI0uE7bp-RrV4Y2_pbgKuxjsgO9VKqM1p_4xq35ejDPSQ_B256R9WUajXIxHZGP-PBlGW6uRNjCIk7cvQ81fXPJ7Onq8nkKIyuWNhzYelnpVfI/s1600/Kate+upton+sexy+nude+ass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9gY9n9tHCYLodzDfb1suX-FjrAf9rMI0uE7bp-RrV4Y2_pbgKuxjsgO9VKqM1p_4xq35ejDPSQ_B256R9WUajXIxHZGP-PBlGW6uRNjCIk7cvQ81fXPJ7Onq8nkKIyuWNhzYelnpVfI/s400/Kate+upton+sexy+nude+ass.jpg" width="143" /></a></div><br />And certainly, a stalwart of legendary assdom is that of one of the IWS team, the Schmoopster...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWaxm3QnfWsbUT4N1B_IaxDsXPibBHiuB9o1eWcZyctFkfHIOagyi7BGUJuI_SzB1nuZq8KS1kWhXH7t_p6hVrecNmaQ9E9FNIMqNbZRgaPMPFX3UY9dIr2muD7lyGp1dE-my4Xfpb8Q/s1600/Schmoop+Hot+Ass.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWaxm3QnfWsbUT4N1B_IaxDsXPibBHiuB9o1eWcZyctFkfHIOagyi7BGUJuI_SzB1nuZq8KS1kWhXH7t_p6hVrecNmaQ9E9FNIMqNbZRgaPMPFX3UY9dIr2muD7lyGp1dE-my4Xfpb8Q/s400/Schmoop+Hot+Ass.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />So there you go.  Year's End and Rear Ends.  Let's love the hell out of all of them.<br /><br />And don't forget...<br /><br />If you missed Jay and Matt kicking 2012 to the curb on Blog Talk Radio LIVE last night, you can catch all of the angst ridden hilarity right here in the archives.  A good time was had by all...<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.adobe.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" height="270" id="143577" name="143577" width="210"><param name="movie" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Fim-with-stupid%2Fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&bufferlength=5&volume=80&corner=rounded&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fim-with-stupid%2fplay_list.xml%3Fitemcount%3D5&autostart=true&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=210&height=270&volume=80&corner=rounded" width="210" height="270" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" wmode="transparent" menu="false" name="143577" id="143577" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">    <br /><br />Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/im-with-stupid">Im With Stupid</a> on Blog Talk Radio<br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;"></div></div></div>

IWS Babe of the Week...Year's End and Rear Ends

As we quickly approach year's end, now is the perfect time to celebrate some really sweet looking...rear ends...Many people today, when they think of ass, naturally think of Kim Kardashian...Others may simply dream of the go to ass of Scarlett Johans…

Questcor Finds Profit for Acthar Drug, at $28,000 a Vial - NYTimes.com

4:43 AM Tukiyooo 0

<base href="data:"><div style="color: black; text-align: left; "><nyt_text style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div id="articleBody"><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">THE doctor was dumbfounded: a drug that used to cost $50 was now selling for $28,000 for a 5-milliliter vial.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">The physician, Dr. Ladislas Lazaro IV, remembered occasionally prescribing this anti-inflammatory, named H.P. Acthar Gel, for <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/acute-gouty-arthritis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Acute gouty arthritis." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">gout</a> back in the early 1990s. Then the drug seemed to fade from view. Dr. Lazaro had all but forgotten about it, until a sales representative from a company called Questcor Pharmaceuticals appeared at his office and suggested that he try it for various rheumatologic conditions.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"I've never seen anything like this," Dr. Lazaro, a rheumatologist in Lafayette, La., says of the price increase.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">How the price of this drug rose so far, so fast is a story for these troubled times in American health care — a tale of aggressive marketing, questionable medicine and, not least, out-of-control costs. At the center of it is Questcor, which turned the once-obscure Acthar into a hugely profitable wonder drug and itself into one of Wall Street's highest fliers.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">At least until recently, that is. Now some doctors, insurance companies and investors are beginning to have doubts about whether the drug is really any better than much cheaper alternatives. Short-sellers have written scathing criticisms of the company, questioning its <a title="StreetSweeper report." href="http://thestreetsweeper.org/undersurveillance/Questcor__The_Secret_behind_Its__Miracle__Drug" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">marketing tactics</a> and predicting <a title="Citron report (PDF)." href="http://www.citronresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/citron-qcor.pdf" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">that its shareholders</a> are highly vulnerable.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; "> That Acthar is even a potential blockbuster is a remarkable turn of events, considering that the drug was developed in the 1950s by a division of Armour & Company, the meatpacking company that once ruled the Union Stock Yards of Chicago. As in the 1950s, Acthar is still extracted from the pituitary glands of slaughtered pigs — essentially a byproduct of the meatpacking industry.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">The most important use of Acthar has been to treat infantile spasms, also known as West syndrome, a rare, sometimes fatal epileptic disorder that generally strikes before the age of 1.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">For several years, Questcor, which is based in Anaheim, lost money on Acthar because the drug's market was so small. In 2007, it raised the price overnight, to more than $23,000 a vial, from $1,650, bringing the cost of a typical course of treatment for infantile spasms to above $100,000. It said it needed the high price to keep the drug on the market.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"We have this drug at a very high price right now because, really, our principal market is infantile spasms," <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.questcor.com/about-questcor/board-directors/don-m-bailey" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Don M. Bailey, Questcor's chief executive</a>, told analysts in 2009. "And we only have about 800 patients a year. It's a very, very small — tiny — market."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Companies often charge stratospheric prices for drugs for rare diseases — known as orphan drugs — and Acthar's price is not as high as some. Society generally tolerates those costs to encourage drug companies to develop crucial, possibly lifesaving drugs for these often neglected diseases.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But Questcor did almost no research or development to bring Acthar to market, merely buying the rights to the drug from its previous owner for $100,000 in 2001. And while the manufacturing of Acthar is complex, it accounts for only about 1 cent of every dollar that Questcor charges for the drug.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Moreover, the tiny "orphan" market soon became much bigger. Before long, Questcor began marketing the drug for <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/multiple-sclerosis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Multiple sclerosis." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">multiple sclerosis</a>, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/nephrotic-syndrome/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Nephrotic syndrome." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">nephrotic syndrome</a> and rheumatologic conditions, even though there is little evidence that Acthar is more effective for those other conditions than alternatives that are far cheaper. And the company did so without being required to prove that the drug actually works. That is because Acthar was approved for use in 1952, before the Food and Drug Administration required clinical trials to show a drug is effective for a particular disease. Acthar is essentially grandfathered in.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Today, only about 10 percent of the drug's sales are for infantile spasms. The new uses, Mr. Bailey has told analysts, represent multibillion-dollar opportunities for Acthar and Questcor, its sole maker.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">The results have been beyond even the company's wildest dreams. Sales of Acthar, which accounts for essentially all of Questcor's sales, totaled nearly $350 million in the first nine months this year, up 145 percent from the period a year earlier. In the same period, Questcor's earnings per share nearly tripled, to $2.12. In the five years after the big Acthar price increase in August 2007, Questcor shares rose from around 60 cents to about $50, in one of the best performances of any stock in any industry.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But in September, the shares plummeted after Aetna, the big insurer, said it would no longer pay for Acthar, except to treat infantile spasms, because of lack of evidence the drug worked for other diseases. The stock now trades at $26.93.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Peter Wickersham, senior vice president for cost of care at <a title="Its Web site." href="http://www.primetherapeutics.com/index.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Prime Therapeutics,</a> a pharmacy benefits manager that <a title="About the findings." href="https://cdn2.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/e7c690e8-6ff9-102a-ac6d-e4aebca50425/736243c9-46fe-420e-b8a6-6d0faaba1a66/File/cc923cad7abb16b286e690457749aa08/5287_acthargel_casestudy.pdf" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">has found the drug is possibly being overused</a>, says the huge increase in Acthar's price for patients "just invites the type of scrutiny that it's received."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Questcor, meanwhile, has disclosed that the United States attorney's office in Philadelphia is investigating its marketing practices. The company hasn't been accused of wrongdoing.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Mr. Bailey, Questcor's C.E.O., defends his company's practices. He says that when Questcor raised Acthar's price, it did not initially intend to market the drug for other uses. It simply responded to demand. "Nobody predicted this," he said. "Nobody."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">He also says that Questcor isn't competing with low-price alternatives, but that it is marketing the drug as a treatment when those alternatives fail. Used that way — for instance, as a last chance to avert <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/acute-kidney-failure/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Acute kidney failure." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">kidney failure</a> — insurers are still paying for the drug at least 85 percent of the time, he says.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Still, given that Questcor is now pursuing billion-dollar opportunities far beyond the treatment of infantile spasms, is the high, orphan-drug price still justified?</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"We could lower the price and make less money," Mr. Bailey says, "and then we would be sued by our shareholders."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Whatever the case, one group of shareholders has done pretty well for itself. Over the last two years, as the company's share price mainly soared, Questcor insiders have sold more than $100 million of stock.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">THE story of Questcor's wonder drug begins in Rochester, Minn. It was there, at the Mayo Clinic, that <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1950/hench.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Dr. Philip S. Hench</a> spent more than 20 years searching for what he called Substance X.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Hench, a rheumatologist, hypothesized that the body could make a compound that stilled the immune system's attacks on the joints of people with <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/rheumatoid-arthritis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Rheumatoid arthritis." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">rheumatoid arthritis</a>.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">It turned out that another Mayo researcher, <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1950/kendall.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Dr. Edward C. Kendall</a>, had isolated six hormones made by the adrenals, the small glands atop the kidneys that are chiefly responsible for releasing stress hormones. When a few patients were injected with one of the hormones in 1948, their symptoms subsided.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But that hormone, now known as cortisone, was then hard to synthesize. So Dr. Hench thought of injecting another substance that would stimulate the body to produce its own cortisone and other<a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/steroids/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about steroids." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">steroid</a> hormones. That substance was <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/test/acth/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about ACTH." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">adrenocorticotropic hormone</a>, or ACTH, which is made by the pituitary gland.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Hench obtained some ACTH from the Armour meatpacking company, which was extracting it from pigs as part of an effort to develop markets for leftover animal parts. (Its big success was Dial soap, introduced in 1948.)</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">When ACTH was injected into the first <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/arthritis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Arthritis and Rheumatism." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">arthritis</a> patient in February 1949, the results were as good as with cortisone, spurring a huge spike in demand for animal glands. By 1950, thousands of patients, not only those with arthritis but also those with gout, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/systemic-lupus-erythematosus/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Systemic lupus erythematosus." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">lupus</a>, <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/ulcerative-colitis/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Ulcerative colitis." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">ulcerative colitis</a> and many other diseases, had been treated with either cortisone or ACTH.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">That year, Dr. Hench, Dr. Kendall and a third scientist were awarded <a title="The 1950 prize in medicine, on the Nobel site." href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1950/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">the Nobel Prize</a> in medicine.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">In 1952, Armour won approval from the F.D.A. for H.P. Acthar Gel, or "highly purified" ACTH mixed with gelatin (another animal byproduct) to make it last longer in the body and require fewer injections. The label said the drug could be used to treat about 50 diseases.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But by the 1980s, drug companies had learned to synthesize steroids like prednisone, and those became the treatment of choice. In 1995, when the F.D.A. found numerous quality control problems at the factory manufacturing Acthar, the drug's owner at the time, Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, decided to discontinue the product rather than invest in manufacturing improvements.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">That decision provoked an outcry from some patient groups and pediatric neurologists, who said the drug was the best treatment for infantile spasms. So Rhône-Poulenc, which became Aventis after a merger, continued to make a limited supply that was rationed to treat only infantile spasms or severe flare-ups of multiple sclerosis. With Aventis losing several million dollars a year on the drug, on sales of only about a half-million dollars, the company looked for a way out.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">It sold the drug in 2001 to Questcor for $100,000 as well as a 1 percent royalty on annual sales over $10 million. At the time, Questcor, formed by a merger of two small companies in 1999, was losing money and looking for drugs to market. With help from Aventis, Questcor set up its own, somewhat more modern manufacturing through a contractor on Prince Edward Island, Canada.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Questcor immediately raised the price of Acthar to $700 a vial, from $40, and the price rose gradually after that. By the end of 2006, Acthar sales were about $12 million a year, but the company was still losing money.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">In May 2007, James L. Fares, left as chief executive and was replaced, initially on an interim basis, by Mr. Bailey, who had joined the board a year earlier. A mechanical engineer by training, Mr. Bailey had retired in 2000 from a 10-year run as chief executive of Comarco, a military contractor and telecommunications concern.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Three months later, Questcor announced the huge price jump, aimed at repositioning Acthar as a specialty drug. The move prompted protests from parents and pediatric neurologists.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"It made us so sick to the stomach — just the fact that something like that could happen overnight with a drug my child needed to live," says Christina Culver of Colorado Springs. "It's just like someone saying, 'I'm going to charge you for oxygen now.' "</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Ms. Culver's son Tyler was in the hospital, being treated for infantile spasms, just as the price increase hit. Tyler was due to leave the hospital, and Ms. Culver and her husband, Randy, were to continue the injections at home. Then the Culvers' insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, refused to pay the new high price. After a storm of publicity, the insurer backed down.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Questcor, however, hasn't, and has continued to raise the price, now at more than $28,400 a vial. Insurers generally pay for Acthar because it is considered the best treatment for infantile spasms. They also tend to pay for other approved uses if cheaper drugs have been tried first. And Questcor has carefully executed the orphan-drug playbook. Patients who cannot pay are given the drug free. The company helps with insurance co-payments, to make sure that a patient's inability to make a co-payment doesn't stand in the way of the drug being used and the insurer paying $28,000 a vial.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">In other words, Questcor shifts the cost onto insurance companies while staving off consumer protests. It has a staff of 30 people who do nothing but work on insurance reimbursements — about one staff member for each of the roughly 30 <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/specialtopic/getting-a-prescription-filled/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Getting a prescription filled." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">prescriptions</a> it gets in a typical day for all uses.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Questcor executives argue that with the free drug program and the ample supply, patients have better access to Acthar now than when it was cheaper and often in short supply.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"We believe we've been good stewards of this product," Mr. Bailey says.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; "><a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.chop.edu/doctors/brown-lawrence-w.html" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Dr. Lawrence Brown, a neurologist</a> at the <a title="The hospital's Web site." href="http://www.chop.edu/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Children's Hospital of Philadelphia</a> and the president of the <a title="The foundation's Web site." href="http://www.childneurologyfoundation.org/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Child Neurology Foundation,</a> says of Questcor: "They have gone out of their way to help every kid who needs the medicine to get it quickly and efficiently."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">This year, the foundation awarded its first corporate citizenship award to Questcor. Dr. Brown says Questcor's donations — the amount has not been disclosed — to the foundation didn't influence the award.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">STILL, the price remains a sticking point.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">At Children's National Medical Center in Washington, "we've been instructed not to hospitalize a child with spasms unless the authorization has been procured to pay for it," said <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.childrensnational.org/research/faculty/bios/cnr/pearl_p.aspx" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Dr. Phillip L. Pearl, chief of child neurology</a>. In practice, however, no child has been turned away.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Dr. Shaun Hussain of <a title="The hospital's Web site." href="http://www.uclahealth.org/homepage_mattel.cfm" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Mattel Children's Hospital</a> in Los Angeles said that the studies showing Acthar to be better than far cheaper steroids used too low a dose of steroids.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">At his hospital, he reported at a medical meeting this month, 18 of 30 babies were successfully treated with two weeks' worth of a high-dose oral steroid. Only the 12 who did not respond were switched to Acthar, with five of them successfully treated.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Given that the steroids cost $200 for each baby, compared with about $125,000 for Acthar, the approach saved more than $2 million. "We have to look at the cost to the health care system," Dr. Hussain said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Mr. Bailey says the new price was set to make the company viable based solely on sales for infantile spasms. Executives assumed at the time that the high price would preclude other uses.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But to Questcor's surprise, he says, some prescriptions continued to trickle in to treat the periodic flare-ups that plague people with multiple sclerosis.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">So Questcor began hiring sales representatives to promote the drug for that use. Then it hired a sales force to promote the drug as a treatment for nephrotic syndrome, a <a href="http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/injury-kidney-and-ureter/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="In-depth reference and news articles about Injury - kidney and ureter." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">kidney injury</a> that can lead to kidney failure. In June, it began selling to rheumatologists.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">For all these diseases, there are cheaper alternatives. Oral prednisone, which might be used for some rheumatological diseases, can cost $10 a month. Intravenous steroids, used to treat multiple sclerosis flares, cost several hundred dollars.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Because Acthar was approved for these conditions decades ago, Questcor has not had to do large clinical trials to show that the drug works. It has paid for some small studies, mainly by individual doctors, who then publish a paper that the sales force can present to doctors.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">The study that justified calling on rheumatologists involved five patients with rare conditions, all of them treated by a single doctor. All the patients had much improvement on Acthar after failing to benefit from more standard therapies, the doctor, Todd Levine, said in a Questcor conference call.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Still, it appears that at least a couple of small studies that may have raised questions about the drug have been suspended.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"From my standpoint it just didn't work," said Dr. Sungchun Lee, a Phoenix nephrologist who stopped a small study testing Acthar as a treatment for nephrotic syndrome. "I think they were O.K. with me stopping because we weren't getting the results," he said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Another study that was terminated sought to determine whether multiple sclerosis patients who did not have a good response to steroids should be treated with either another round of steroids or with Acthar. The study was halted midway through "to analyze data," according to <a title="The summary." href="http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00947895" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">the summary of the trial</a> on the federal clinical trial database.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">A negative result could have jeopardized already growing sales for multiple sclerosis. The company says the trial fell hopelessly behind its goal in recruiting patients.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Given the scarce data, and the high price, most doctors do not use Acthar for multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome or rheumatology.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"It's absurd," says Dr. Douglas R. Jeffery, a multiple sclerosis specialist in Advance, N.C. "There's never a clinical setting where I can justify spending $23,000 to treat an M.S. relapse."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">But some doctors say Acthar can be effective in cases that are not well treated by steroids. They say that there is emerging evidence that Acthar does more than just stimulate the body to produce its own steroids.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"It really looks like the ACTH does bring something different to the table that standard steroids don't," said <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.shepherd.org/about/medical-staff/28" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Dr. Ben W. Thrower,</a> director of the multiple sclerosis institute at <a title="The hospital's Web site." href="http://www.shepherd.org/" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">the Shepherd Center</a>, a hospital in Atlanta. Dr. Thrower, who is a paid speaker for Questcor, said his institute had tried Acthar for about 60 of its 3,000 patients, ones who did not respond to steroid treatment. Acthar made the symptoms subside in about half of them.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">GIVEN Acthar's price, Questcor does not need many prescriptions to make a good business. A course of treatment for nephrotic syndrome can run $250,000, while a shorter treatment for a multiple sclerosis relapse typically costs $40,000.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Questcor sales representatives who are lucky enough or skillful enough to have a big prescriber in their territory can reap bonuses of $50,000 a quarter, according to former employees of the company.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Executives are paid well, too. In 2009, Mr. Bailey hired his daughter Kirsten Fereday as director of business analytics and evaluation, a job that paid $275,000 in cash and stock last year.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Mr. Bailey and <a title="Biographical information." href="http://www.questcor.com/about-questcor/management-team/steve-cartt" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 153); text-decoration: none; ">Steve Cartt, Questcor's chief operating officer</a>, say the company's marketing has been aboveboard and that the company is now starting to sponsor more studies. "This wasn't possible until the drug was financially viable," Mr. Bailey said.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Patients report mixed results. Sharon Keller of Austin, Tex., who has nephrotic syndrome, tried Acthar after two other drugs had not worked. But she stopped, she says, because side effects including mood swings and weight gain were "much worse than I'd ever experienced."</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"I almost had to fight with my doctor not to push it on me," Ms. Keller, 59, says. She says her insurer was charged $130,000 for her drug, including a vial she did not use. "I have a Cadillac in my refrigerator," she says of that leftover vial.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">ONE big uncertainty hanging over Questcor is competition. As an old drug without patent protection, Acthar would seem to be a sitting duck for generic rivals. And other versions of ACTH have been sold in the past.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Yet Questcor is now arguing that its studies show that Acthar, despite the "highly purified" in its name, actually contains other substances from the pig pituitary glands that account for some of its effectiveness. The company does not intend to say what those other ingredients are, thus making it extremely hard for a generic company to copy Acthar.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"Coca-Cola is not going to tell you what Coke contains, either," Mr. Bailey says.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Whether such an argument will work remains to be seen. Even if it does, competitors could still sell other forms of ACTH. Novartis, which sells a synthetic version called Synacthen in Europe, has applied for a United States trademark, a sign that the drug might be brought to this country.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">A small Maryland company, Cerium Pharmaceuticals, recently won orphan-drug designation from the F.D.A. for Synacthen to be used to treat infantile spasms. But that does not necessarily mean that Cerium has the rights to the drug or intends to market it.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Cerium is run by Gregg Lapointe, a former Questcor board member. He declined to comment for this article.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Still, Synacthen, or other versions of ACTH, might have to go through lengthy trials before being approved, and would have to be approved for one disease at a time.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">So there is at least a chance that Questcor might maintain its high-priced dominance for a long time. In the meantime, the company plans to systematically expand the marketing of the drug to treat other diseases, starting with those already on the label.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">Given that Acthar has many potential uses, Mr. Bailey says, Questcor sees no reason to come up with other drugs. The company has been buying back its stock, helping to underpin the price, and recently said it would start paying a dividend.</p><p itemprop="articleBody" style="color: black; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 24px; ">"We'll take it where it goes," Mr. Bailey says of Acthar. "It's taken us to places we never expected."</p><nyt_correction_bottom><div class="articleCorrection" style="margin-bottom: 2.8em; "></div></nyt_correction_bottom><nyt_update_bottom></nyt_update_bottom></div></nyt_text><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important; float: none; "></span></div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/business/questcor-finds-profit-for-acthar-drug-at-28000-a-vial.html?">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/business/questcor-finds-profit-for-acthar-drug-at-28000-a-vial.html?</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

Questcor Finds Profit for Acthar Drug, at $28,000 a Vial - NYTimes.com

THE doctor was dumbfounded: a drug that used to cost $50 was now selling for $28,000 for a 5-milliliter vial.The physician, Dr. Ladislas Lazaro IV, remembered occasionally prescribing this anti-inflammatory, named H.P. Acthar Gel, for gout back in th…