pioneer98 wrote:I hesitated to put this here because of the topic but I was too weak. Jeff Roorda has a "book" coming out called "Ferghanistan: The War On Police". Whatever side of the thing you are on...I don't want to turn this into a debate on that. My point here is that using this topic for self-promotion and profit just seems wrong. It's kind of like how CNN and the other 24 hour news networks maybe seemed a little too enthusiastic about their coverage of it when it was going on.
The pharmaceutical investor looks disturbingly similar in that photo to a great friend of mine - who even regularly wears a pair of shades similar to those. Luckily, my pal has a better haircut, beard, and instead of being a disgusting human being, is generally regarded as a terrific guy. If I'd seen this photo independent of the article, I absolutely would have thought it was my friend, doing some weird attempt at social satire (he is a broke actor, not a sleazeball businessman). Maybe they'll make a movie out of it and that'll be his big break, playing This Weeks Most Hated Dude In the Country.
I don't know if this belongs here, in the politics thread, or in the crumbling financial system thread....Basically, the reason Shkreli could do this because the FDA does not allow foreign drugs in without their approval, and there are currently none in the pipeline to get approved. Shkreli is gambling that red tape will hold up competition. The drug the guy bought is in the public domain, meaning anyone else can make it but they would need FDA approval. The article makes the larger argument that situations like this - where wealthy asshats take advantage of bad regulations - are driving inequality.
I agree with everything they are saying here. The only caveats that I'd add is that often the rules are written the way they are because we let these guys write the laws in the first place (not in this example, but others). And that these guys are still asshats for doing what they are doing.
