Posted in economy, politics, tagged 80 percent, A380, accountable for, airliner, Americans spend less, baby formula, barriers, bioregionalism, car, Carnival, chain, China, Chinese spend more, CNN, consumers, contractor, cost cutting, crankcase, Credit Suisse, cruise, currency war, cut corners, defects, devaluation, doctrine, dogma, Dollar, Dong Tao, downsides, drugs, eco-friendly, economic engine, ecoregionalism, electronics, emergency, emerging power, engine, failure, fake, fakes, faulty, FDA, Federal Reserve, fire, flimsy, food, G-20, G20, globalisation, globalization, going broke, Green Revolution, grounded, hazards, imitation, improved, jet, job losses, knockoff, landing, leading economy by 2012, leveling the playing field, liberalization, lifestyle realignment, lost income, lower, manufacturers, market, medications, melamine, military gear, mineral, natural resources, news, out of luck, parts, passenger, pets, port, post-American, produce, production, productivity, protectionism, protectionist, protest, Qantas, quality assurance, quantitative easing, rebalance, recalls, recession, recession here to stay, replicas, responsibility, risk, Rolls-Royce, runs out, safety, salaries, scarcity, shady, ship, shocking, shoddy, shortage, Splendor, supplier, sustainability movement, tariffs, tensions, track record, trade liberalization, trade war, treason, treasury bills, troops, turnover, U.S., unemployment, Veteran's Day, wages, way of life, who is to blame for, workmanship, world economy on November 12, 2010 |
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Last week: A late-model Qantas A380 jet engine disintegrates mid-air, with passengers lucky to have survived the ensuing in-flight trauma. This week: A two-year-old Carnival cruise ship is towed into a San Diego, California port after an engine crankcase spontaneously splits open, erupting in fire. Passengers in this case, too, were lucky that the worst they suffered was cold food, limited electrical power and non-operable toilets. And in what would have been shocking 10 years ago, news of contaminated meat, recalled produce and unsafe drugs are now so routine that most of us shrug it off.
In such situations, the finger-pointing tends to be brand, manufacturer or supplier-specific. Indeed, it is tempting to chalk up such news to a series of unfortunate flukes. But is that the best and brightest lesson we can draw — or does our mainstream news media tend to downplay or disregard the Big Picture?
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Posted in notes on the human condition, tagged addictions, age, airbrush, American Idol, Americans, Anna Nicole, anorexia, arthritis, back pain, batty, bodies, Brian Oxman, Brittan's Got Talent, Brittish, cardiac arrest, career, Carpenter, case study, celebrities, celebrity-obsessed culture, chronic pain, CNN, comeback, complications, concert, consequences, crazy, cripple, cure, death, debilitated, dependence, died, disability, doctors, dolt, doped up, drugs, eccentric, electrolytes, Elvis, entertainer, expectationsdemands, fans, feeble, fishbowl, fitness, frail, frenetic, Gans, handicap, heart attack, heath, hectic, human, idolized, ill, illness, infirmity, injuries, interaction, Jackson Five, kilter, King of Pop, larger than life, lazy, life, lifestyle, Los Vegas, management, Marilyn, medical, medical community, mental, Michael Jackson, Monroe, nutty, off beat, offbeat, overdose, pain management, painkillers, paparazi, perfection, performer, physical, prescriptions, Presley, pressure, public, quick fix, relief, rumors, sick, sickly, Simon Cowell, singer, singing, slacker, Smith, societal standards, spokesman, stage, stamina, stardom, stars, substance abuse, superstar, surgery, Susan Boyle, Terri Schindler Schiavo, tour, treatment center, weak, weight, world on June 26, 2009 |
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Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop“, made an untimely exit from the stage of life after suffering a cardiac arrest Thursday, June 25, Brian Oxman, a Jackson family attorney, reports. More shockingly, Oxman told a CNN reporter that he warned the Jackson family that the star may be headed for a fate not unlike Anna Nicole Smith, who died little over two years ago following prolonged prescription painkiller dependence. Smith also lost her teenage son to a fatal drug interaction in 2006. In Jackson’s case, Oxman says the entertainer suffered chronic pain from a multitude of former stage injuries, among them a fractured vertebra and a broken leg.
Prescription drug abuse often starts legitimately enough. Life happens. We suffer injuries and accidents. And we don’t want to live like cripples before our time. But oftentimes the so-called cure comes with its own consequences.
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