Ah, page 3 in today’s Wall Street Journal: “The head of the FDA warned that wealthy nations need to more fairly share the cost of developing new drugs, and criticized price controls maintained by some European and other countries that force Americans to shoulder too much of the burden.” How true, and exactly what I have been saying all along.

When buying innovative medications for previously untreatable conditions, it’s not only the cost that goes into manufacturing that green or blue pill - no, you’ll also have to factor in the research that goes into developing it. Plus, you’ll also have to add on the many research projects that didn’t go anywhere.

That’s already a lot, and it doesn’t help that it takes today longer than ever to develop a successful drug. Why? Maybe it’s because all the low-hanging fruit have already been picked…

But, I digress. Here’s the math problem alluded to by McClellan: Canada is responsible for around 2-3 percent of revenues for US-based pharmaceutical companies. Why can such a minority negotiate substantial discounts for shipments of US prescription drugs? And then sell them back to US citizens? Isn’t that the reason why US citizen have to pay higher prescription drug prices in the first place? Why not have everyone pay the same price for prescription drugs? If Canadians think that drugs are too expensive, then let their government help out - with Canadian taxpayer’s money.

If you haven’t checked out my friend’s websites lately, do it now - artists, photographers and writers…

Garrison Hoffman | Ray Mancini | Wil Gee

While checking up on a few websites, I punched in iserloh.com on archive.org’s “Way Back Machine”. Check out my website from 2000, and see how it has evolved over the past four years…

Wiggaz.com is hysterical, it’s the holy grail of white suburban american youth… haha. But if you’re wondering: wigger = a white, affluent youth who seeks to emulate the culture of hardcore gangsta rap. Also related to Wigga and wiggaz. Check it out…

The other day, I was trying to find a specific browser - and by chance came across the evolt.com browser list. I must say, quite comprehensive. If you ever need to get older versions of browsers, look no further - go to evolt.com !

Another interesting find: Brian Taylor’s upcoming movie Rustboy - I liked the sketches and pictures, more so than the short movie clips. Go to site…

The other day, I was browsing through the October issue of Communication Arts, one of the design industry standards. In it, I came across a column by Barbara Gordon, pointing out the importance of knowing one’s area of expertise. While this lesson could be applied to any number of fields, Barbara had a special group in mind - freelance artists. In her words:

As I look through the volume of inquiries I receive from artists and photographers looking for a representative for their work, one thing stands out - a lot of freelancers don’t have a clue about the product they have to sell.

I get a lot of inquiries from freelancers who tell me that they can do everything well - advertising, editorial, packaging, medical, scientific, architecture, portraits, Web design, digital imaging. And, indeed, there are one or two who are probably brilliant in all of those areas. But if the advertising clients operated the way some freelancers do, they’d be out of business in months.

Freelancers can learn a lot about the product they have to sell from the way advertising clients determine, develop and promote a product. Read the entire article…

The Journal of Chemical Education has produced several high-quality CD-ROMS with instructional movies that feature interesting reactions - mostly strongly exothermic reactions, if you know what I mean. Check out the sodium triiodide explosion, or the reaction of magnesium with carbon dioxide. Very spectacular, and certainly a nice complement to classroom instruction. See the full listing of movies…

I bet you have already signed up for the national Do-Not-Call Registry, a list that contains gazillion telephone numbers of people that do not wish to be contacted by telemarketers. So far, so good. But if you think that telemarketers give up that easily, you’re dead wrong. The Seattle Times reports in their August 13 issue how telemarketers are doing all they can to try to get around the national registry. I think it’s worth a read if you signed up for the registry. Check it out…

Witty, humorous, awesome - I can’t describe Guy Billout’s illustration work any other way. This guy is really talented. Go to Billout’s portfolio..