To everyone going to DC, Tony from the Ellen show will be there and he has 500 silly plates to give out. If you see an Ellen tent/table, go get one.

This shindig is taking place tomorrow night literally less than 5 minutes from my house: [link]

I have NO excuse to skip an inauguration event called The Blue Ball. Plus, it's formal wear "encouraged but optional," so I could wear my ballgown and corset!

[edited because I tried to use the "less than" symbol in my original post, and I forgot that that won't work....]

Tony from the Ellen show will be there and he has 500 silly plates to give out. If you see an Ellen tent/table, go get one.

I have no idea what that means but okay!

I just wonder what it portends about what is going on in the industry.

I'd imagine it's the drug/grocery store version of the ongoing "One Day Sale!!!"

I just wonder what it portends about what is going on in the industry.

I'd imagine it's the drug/grocery store version of the ongoing "One Day Sale!!!"

I think the $4/free generic drugs are a way for the stores to get bodies in the door. You get them in, they spend money on other things. t edit Like the One-Day Sale, exactly.

And I'm not being cynical -- the programs are *excellent,* and sorely needed. I hope they expand. But it's also true that, in locations like big grocery stores with pharmacies, the $4/free generic drugs are basically loss leaders to get bodies in the stores to spend money on more than prescriptions. It's -- more or less -- a win/win, because people without insurance can get the drugs they need very cheaply (or free), and the stores get more foot traffic.

And the drugs themselves, as generics, are relatively cheap for the stores to buy from the manufacturer/distributor. Generic penicillin is not a moneymaker for a drug company. They're all trying to develop the next Lipitor or Claritin. Or Viagra.

They're called Loss Leaders. It works.

That would be hilariously improbable but you never know!

You really don't. That Fourth on the Mall? With almost a million people?* I ran into a woman who had graduated a year before me in the physics dept. A class of FOUR. And she live in Atlanta at the time! Even funnier is that I saw her in Hampden this fall....

* I was reading the WashPost today, and they mentioned metro ridership records had been met/broken Sunday. Previous record was Fourth '99. I'm pretty sure that's the one was at because I vaguely recall mention of it at the time.

Thanks, Step, for the insider knowledge! It's curious to me because I really suspect something has to change soon in the medical/pharm industry soon. It seems like it is getting to a camel collapsing point.

I completely support beth's platform.

Here is my message to the Prez:

Please, Mr. President, make us better global citizens on as many levels as can be influenced both inside and outside the corporate cabal. And please, support more appropriate energy sources. Make your 8 years count.

Yes, many of us will be disappointed that you don't actually walk on water. But you really can make a huge difference in all our futures and I, for one, thank you for at least trying to swim against the evil/greed tide.

God bless you for the sacrifices you will have to make to live in this role. Those of us whose hope has been so badly bruised as to have grown over with scar tissue, thank you.

ok - here is a clip where you can at least see what Tony looks like: [link]

I run into someone I know pretty much everywhere.

An old boyfriend moved to China to teach English. He went on holiday to Bangkok and passed a fellow with a nod and a hey...took two or three steps and did a neck-cracking double take. He just happened to bump into a high school friend. In Bangkok.