New Viagra Spokesperson

New Viagra ad features only a woman for the first time.
September 30, 2014.
Poll finds Trump’s biggest supporters don’t believe in white privilege.
Tom Price says he’s going to pay the government back for all those chartered flights — but there’s a catch.
Chinese government orders North Korean businesses to close.
Gary Cohn says he ‘can’t guarantee’ GOP tax plan will lower taxes for middle class.
These GOP senators want to exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act for good.
Hundreds of Japanese sea critters surfed the Pacific on plastic debris after the 2011 tsunami.
LG’s new smartphone could save you from mosquito bites.
New Viagra ad features only a woman for the first time.
Erectile dysfunction ads tend to follow a pattern: They usually show rugged, good-looking older men doing manly things, sometimes with a woman in the background. A new ad for Viagra, however, bucks that trend by featuring just a woman — a first for the company. The ad is also the first time someone in a Viagra commercial says “erection” rather than “erectile dysfunction” or “ED.”
The new strategy for Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, comes at a time when the company is looking to remain competitive even after it loses the monopoly on the drug. Its European patent expired 15 months ago — resulting in an 8 percent sales drop as generics flooded the market — and the U.S. patent is set to expire in 3 years. The new marketing strategy also seeks to change the behavior of men who may be suffering from ED but are unwilling to talk to their doctor. Half of men over 40 suffer from ED, occasionally or always, and only 10 percent take medicine regularly.
Check out the ad below. –Marshall Bright.
New Viagra ad features only a woman for the first time.
September 30, 2014.
Poll finds Trump’s biggest supporters don’t believe in white privilege.
While pundits and dinner party pontificators throughout President Trump’s political career have argued that attitudes about race aren’t a major factor in his popularity, a new survey from the Pew Research Center indicates otherwise. The poll shows a strong association between political leanings and views about whether white people experience advantages in society over other races — and identifies a correlation between these views and approval of Trump’s performance as president.
The survey finds that 74 percent of people who believe white people do not have advantages also approve of Trump’s job performance, and 60 percent approve strongly. Of those who merely think white people don’t benefit “too much,” 57 percent approve of Trump, while 36 percent approve strongly. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who share these beliefs are even more likely to be Trump fans: Eighty-nine percent think he’s doing a good job. Conversely, 97 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who believe white people do benefit a “great deal” from privilege disapprove of Trump’s work so far.
During his time in office, Trump has continued to push for a wall separating Mexico and the U.S.; blamed “both sides” for a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; and, most recently, referred to athletes peacefully protesting racism and police brutality as “sons of bitches.”
Overall, Pew found that 56 percent of Americans believe in white privilege of some kind. Specifically, 92 percent of black people believe white people benefit a “great deal,” while only 46 percent of white respondents said they felt they benefited a “fair amount.” See the full findings here. Roxie Pell.
Poll finds Trump’s biggest supporters don’t believe in white privilege.
Tom Price says he’s going to pay the government back for all those chartered flights — but there’s a catch.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price has been in hot water this week over reports he chartered private planes for routine government travel. Politico first reported Price’s use of private planes last week, alleging the health secretary took at least 26 private flights on taxpayers’ dime, incurring charges of more than $400,000.
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services released a statement from Price, in which he said he would not take any more chartered flights while serving as health secretary, “no exceptions,” and promised to reimburse the government. “The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes,” Price said in the statement.
But Fox News’ Fin Gomez reported Thursday afternoon that a senior source at HHS said Price will pay exactly $51,887.31 back to the federal government for the flights — roughly 13 percent of the total cost incurred. In other words, it seems Price intends to pay the government back for only his seat on the private planes, which would not have been chartered in the first place had Price not chartered them:
NEW: Senior HHS source says that HHS secretary Tom Price will specifically pay $51,887.31 over useage of a private plane.
The flights Price chartered cost more than $400,000. Price apparently plans only to pay for his own seat. https://t.co/9lEXhhhLGY.
President Trump on Wednesday said he was “not happy” with Price’s travel choices, and would not firmly say he wouldn’t fire Price over the flights. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday that a determination on Price’s tenure with the White House wouldn’t be made until after the matter had been thoroughly reviewed, but noted Trump had made clear his disapproval of Price’s decisions. Kimberly Alters.
Tom Price says he’s going to pay the government back for all those chartered flights — but there’s a catch.
Chinese government orders North Korean businesses to close.
China has instructed all North Korea-owned companies in the country to shut down, after the U.N. Security Council voted to impose new sanctions on the country earlier this month over Pyongyang’s escalating nuclear missile tests. The firms in question, which include joint Chinese and North Korean operations, will close by January of 2018. China had set a deadline of 120 days from Sept. 11, when the sanctions were unanimously voted in.
Non-commercial organizations and those involved in nonprofit infrastructure development will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Al Jazeera reports. Beijing has already banned natural gas sales and purchases of North Korea’s textile exports, as well as limited shipments of refined petroleum and oil. It also cut back on the seafood and iron trade earlier this year.
China has been North Korea’s main diplomatic ally and one of its only sources of foreign trade, but North Korea’s recent missile tests have challenged that relationship. In September, the U.S. softened the language of its draft for new sanctions in order to get China and Russia on board, as China had initially worried that causing economic instability in North Korea might lead to an influx of refugees. Because of its influence on North Korea’s economy, China’s cooperation with the sanctions will be a determining factor in their success. Roxie Pell.
Chinese government orders North Korean businesses to close.
Gary Cohn says he ‘can’t guarantee’ GOP tax plan will lower taxes for middle class.
President Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said Thursday that he “can’t guarantee” that middle-class Americans will avoid higher taxes under Republicans’ recently unveiled tax reform plan. “You can always find a unique family somewhere,” he told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America .
The Republican plan — which proposes shrinking the seven tax brackets down to three at 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent — is being promoted as a win for the middle class because it will also double the standard deduction for all taxpayers, but it also raises taxes for low-income Americans and lowers them for the wealthiest Americans.
“A typical family earning $100,000 with two children . they can expect a tax cut of about $1,000,” Cohn told reporters Thursday afternoon. “That’s where we’re headed.” Jeva Lange.
“A typical family earning $100,000 with two children. they can expect a tax cut of about $1,000. That’s where we’re headed,” Gary Cohn says pic.twitter.com/DI3RvcaS5i.
Gary Cohn says he ‘can’t guarantee’ GOP tax plan will lower taxes for middle class.
These GOP senators want to exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act for good.
On Thursday, President Trump temporarily waived the Jones Act for Puerto Rico in an effort to more quickly get relief supplies to the storm-battered island. Hours later, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced their plan to make that repeal permanent.
The Jones Act requires all maritime shipping between U.S. ports to be on American-owned and -operated ships. The 10-day waiver is aimed at facilitating hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, after the devestation of Hurricane Maria. McCain and Lee have dubbed the nearly century-old bill outdated and are calling for its complete repeal:
Intro’d bill w/ @SenMikeLee today to permanently exempt #PuertoRico from the #JonesAct & aid long-term recovery https://t.co/d4OmmNJ1zO.
In a statement, McCain called the Jones Act “an antiquated, protectionist law that has driven up costs and crippled Puerto Rico’s economy.” McCain first tried to repeal the act in 1998; he’s now trying to make the case that a short-term exemption is “insufficient” to help Puerto Rico fully rebuild after Hurricane Maria. Kathryn Krawczyk.
These GOP senators want to exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act for good.
Hundreds of Japanese sea critters surfed the Pacific on plastic debris after the 2011 tsunami.
At least 289 invasive species surfed on debris from the Japanese tsunami in 2011 to the shores of the West Coast of America, a study released Thursday has found. The incredible transpacific crossings were made possible by the proliferation of non-biodegradable materials like plastics and fiberglass, which were capable of drifting for a year and a half or more as the ocean currents buoyed them — and their tiny living cargo — west.
[Marine sciences professor James T.] Carlton called it remarkable that such a wide range of species — which also included barnacles, worms, and tiny filter-feeders called bryozoans — could survive the journey across the northern Pacific. In many cases, these passages took years, longer than the life spans of the individual organisms. The authors [of the study] concluded that not only did these creatures adapt to an open ocean where food was scarcer than in rich coastal waters, they were also able to reproduce, in some cases for at least three generations, before reaching the North American coast.
“We found that hundreds of species could survive for multiple generations at sea,” said Dr. Carlton, who is a former director of William’s Maritime Studies Program in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut. “They could do this so long as their rafts did not dissolve or sink.” [ The New York Times ]
Biology professor Steven L. Chown told The New York Times that what scientists are witnessing is an entirely new, man-made form of animal travel. “We have created a new ecological process, the process of mega-rafting,” he said.
It remains to be seen if any of the invasive Japanese sea creatures get a foothold on the West Coast, a potentially calamitous possibility for the region’s native species. Read the full report here. Jeva Lange.
Hundreds of Japanese sea critters surfed the Pacific on plastic debris after the 2011 tsunami.
LG’s new smartphone could save you from mosquito bites.
LG wants you to ditch the citronella candles. Its newest smartphone, unveiled yesterday in India, emits mosquito-repelling ultrasonic sound waves.
The LG K7i’s “Mosquito Away” technology “emits ultrasonic waves from a mesh grid on the back of the phone,” CNN Money reports, that repel pests but are harmless to humans. So far, the phone is exclusively available in India, which the National Institutes of Health says faces an estimated 2 million malaria cases every year.
LG already sells washing machines, TVs, and air conditioners that feature anti-mosquito waves, though scientists are still unsure if the technology works at all. But with a bargain $122 price tag, it may be worth a try — just think of all the money you could save if you never bought OFF! again. Kathryn Krawczyk.
LG’s new smartphone could save you from mosquito bites.