Category: News Squib

News Squib#3 – Suing A Smart Vibrator

Digital tablet on newspaper concept for internet and electronicIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: When Good Vibrations Turn Bad 

 

There was a time (decades ago) when no self-respecting female would admit to knowing what a vibrator was, much less admit to owning — or good heavens, using —  one. But times change, and earlier this year a vibrator, described as the “Lexus” of sex toys got the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. Continue reading “News Squib#3 – Suing A Smart Vibrator”

News Squib#2

Digital tablet on newspaper concept for internet and electronicIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Keeping Up With The Joneses

 

 

Most everyone has heard the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses.”  It’s a snarky idiom for those who attempt to match the lifestyle (usually upscale) of friends and neighbors in order to be as socially acceptable. Ever wondered how or where the phrase originated?

On 80-acre Estate

3-_largeI can’t say I ever wondered about it very much, but then the Wall Street Journal illuminated me. That set me off on a mini-Google search for more info about Wyndclyffe Mansion which was put on the auction block this week as a “three-story ruin of a historical mansion.” (Photo left) Continue reading “News Squib#2”

News Squib#1

Vintage black typewriter with old books and flowers on wooden tIt’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read this week. Today: Watch Out Big Pharma, You’re Going the Way of Big Tobacco

 

 

It’s about time, and better late than never:  Suffolk County (the one that covers the easternmost end of Long Island where I live) has put eleven big pharmaceutical companies in its crosshairs. It is suing the opioid manufacturers for, among other things, fraudulent and misleading marketing to promote the use of painkillers like OxyContin and Percocet. The biggest of the pharmas is Purdue Pharma L.P., which manufacturers OxyContin,  an “opium-like painkiller” which is “highly addictive and dangerous.” Continue reading “News Squib#1”

Trump, Brexit & the Politics of Hate

 

Candidate Donald Trump speaks at press conferenceDonald Trump applauded the vote for Brexit when he landed in Scotland the day after the UK voted to leave the European Union.  By now, he knows, or should know, just how ugly things got for minorities in the UK after the vote. And how hate crimes surged 42%. Continue reading “Trump, Brexit & the Politics of Hate”

Inequality: The Report & The Closet

Oscar de la Renta flower dress                                   Credit: thecoveteur.com

We know –because Bernie Sanders talks about it all the time — that the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” is turning into a “yuuge”, yawning chasm. We know that Bernie doesn’t like it , and he talks about mercilessly taxing the “haves.”  CNN Money recently estimated that if he had his way, the rich would be taxed up to the eyebrows at a total 63% tax rate (two-thirds of their pay in taxes) — and that’s just talking about federal, not state, tax. Continue reading “Inequality: The Report & The Closet”