J G dot com: 04/01/2008

tell P&G it's okay

AFA ActionAlert - Procter & Gamble promotes explicit open-mouth homosexual kissing

My letter:
Dear Mr. Lafley,

I am very concerned that the American Family Association has nothing better to do than harass Procter & Gamble. I would suggest that P&G continue making the best As The World Turns show possible instead of catering to a very narrow conservative agenda. Most Americans, including me, aren't offended by a relatively chaste kiss, compared to what straight couples get away with doing on soap operas.

Sincerely,
Johnathan Grant

food prices skyrocket

Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:

Wonder Bagels, in Jersey City, N.J., posted a letter from its wheat supplier, A. Oliveri & Sons, saying the recent situation was unprecedented.
'The major mills across the country are using words like 'rationing' and 'shortages' if things continue,' it said. 'We will sweat out the summer together, hoping there will be some flour left to purchase at any price.'

wholesale inflation hits the stratosphere

Wholesale inflation is now at a 13.2% annualized rate!

Wholesale prices soared in March: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance:

Inflation at the wholesale level soared in March at nearly triple the rate that had been forecast as energy prices kept rising and food costs posted a much bigger jump than anticipated.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday that wholesale prices rose by 1.1 percent last month, the largest increase since a 2.6 percent rise last November. The November gain in the Producer Price Index was the biggest one-month jump in 33 years.

prescription rx drug costs soar for sicker patients

Co-Payments for Expensive Drugs Soar - New York Times:

But the new system sticks seriously ill people with huge bills, said James Robinson, a health economist at the University of California, Berkeley. “It is very unfortunate social policy,” Dr. Robinson said. “The more the sick person pays, the less the healthy person pays.”
Traditionally, the idea of insurance was to spread the costs of paying for the sick.
“This is an erosion of the traditional concept of insurance,” Mr. Mendelson said. “Those beneficiaries who bear the burden of illness are also bearing the burden of cost.”

chinese no longer means cheap

Is the era of cheap Chinese products over? - By Alexandra Harney - Slate Magazine

... A perfect storm has hit China's manufacturers. So far this year, the renminbi has been appreciating at a 16 percent annualized rate. And prices for raw materials, which account for 60 percent to 70 percent of manufacturers' costs, are soaring.

sub-prime mortgage fallout?

Try this - prime borrowers who can't pay it back!
Why the next mortgage crisis may be worse. - By Mark Gimein - Slate Magazine

rx wait times explained

Why it really takes so long for a pharmacist to count out a few pills.
The Joy of Tech comic... laughter is the best tech support.

BBC NEWS | Business | IMF head gives food price warning: "The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that hundreds of thousands of people will face starvation if food prices keep rising.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that social unrest from continuing food price inflation could cause conflict."