Tuesday, March 4, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Ukraine crisis: U.S. threatens sanctions in “days” against Russia – CBS
CBS/Wire Services March 4, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine - Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ukraine Tuesday to show solidarity with the government installed after ousted Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capital and took refugee in Russia. The trip comes amid mounting concerns over Russia's ongoing military occupation of the strategic Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea.

As Kerry flew into Kiev, a senior State Department official said sanctions would likely be brought against Russia in a matter of "days," but the scale, scope, and focus of the punitive actions was still being considered, and was partially contingent on Russian actions going forward.

U.S. officials said the White House would announce a $1 billion loan guarantee to Ukraine, to help offset lost energy subsidies from Moscow as it seeks to extract itself from Russia's influence.

A team of technical experts from the U.S. Treasury ‎Department was expected to arrive and look at Ukraine's finances to assess the damage done so far. Also, the U.S. was to send election observers for scheduled May elections, as well as anti-corruption experts to help recover stolen assets.

Ten observers were expected to come from The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which already has an advance team in Kiev.

The U.S. and its partners intend to offer Russia an "off ramp" to deescalate the crisis, officials say, which will be contingent upon Russian troops returning to their barracks and international observers being sent in.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday Moscow reserves the right to use all means to protect Russians in Ukraine, which is the reason often repeated by Russian officials to justify their actions against their neighbor.

U.S. officials have said they have seen no evidence of attacks on Russian-speakers or Orthodox churches in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine.

Putin also said Tuesday he hopes that Russia won't need to use force in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine.

U.S. officials said they remained "very" concerned Russia would expand its military incursion beyond the Crimean peninsula into other Russian-majority parts of eastern Ukraine.




If I read this correctly, it says that we won't do anything until the Russians withdraw and observers are being sent in. Well, the observers are soon to come in, it says, but who knows when the Russians will withdraw? I hope the “sanctions” begin as soon as possible. The article says “ sanctions would likely be brought against Russia in a matter of "days," but the scale, scope, and focus of the punitive actions was still being considered, and was partially contingent on Russian actions going forward.” So we wait and continue to clip news articles, meanwhile American Republicans criticize Obama as being weak.




U.S. activist, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin held overnight in Egypt jail, claims abuse – CBS
By Tucker Reals CBS News March 4, 2014

LONDON -- American rights and peace activist Medea Benjamin said Tuesday that Egyptian police held her at an airport jail without explanation and that they had broken her arm.

"Help. They broke my arm. Egypt police," Benjamin, who co-founded the CODEPINK anti-war group, said on Twitter.

Her plea for help was apparently answered by the U.S. Embassy, which confirmed to CBS News' Alex Ortiz that Benjamin had left the country after the embassy provided consular assistance.

CODEPINK tweeted that she has been deported to Turkey.
Benjamin said she was detained upon arrival in Cairo, where she was meant to join a delegation and then travel to the Palestinian territory of Gaza for a women's conference.

Benjamin tweeted earlier that the jail cell was cold, the food given to her consisted of "dirty stale bread and dirty water," and that the guards refused to allow another woman in the cell to see a doctor despite the fact that she was ill and "moaning all night."

This is my cell in Cairo airport pic.twitter.com/ogIaXTvJvh
— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) March 4, 2014

Egypt's government has cracked down harshly in recent years on opposition members, arresting dozens of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Several international journalists have also been arrested and held on terror accusations for merely speaking to members of Morsi's now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Muslim extremist groups, based largely in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, have carried out a number of deadly attacks on Egyptian military and security forces.

In the latest move to counter the threat from fundamentalists, Egypt reportedly banned all activities in the country by the Islamic extremist group Hamas on Tuesday.
Hamas, a significant power in Middle Eastern politics, was elected to lead the local government in Gaza. It wasn't immediately clear whether Benjamin's overnight detention was in any way linked to the crackdown on Hamas by Egypt.




Benjamin either was or wasn't collaborating with fundamentalist Islamic forces, but she shouldn't have been arrested “without explanation” and shouldn't have had her arm broken by jailers. She is safely in American hands, but our ambassadors should be protesting the action as a violation of human rights. This article doesn't say anything about that. Maybe we will hear more later.




Parents outraged over New York City Mayor de Blasio's anti-charter school policies – CBS
CBS News March 4, 2014

First lady Michelle Obama will visit a Washington, D.C., charter school on Tuesday afternoon. These public school alternatives, run with taxpayer dollars, are now legal in 42 states.

According to one recent report, charter school enrollment has grown 225 percent over the last 10 years and the number of schools has more than doubled. However, the issue is turning political in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking a stand to support existing public schools over charter schools.

Thousands of concerned parents from the city are traveling to New York State's capital on Tuesday, looking to draw attention to the plight of the charter school movement. It's a movement they believe is now under attack.

Maria Rodriguez has three children attending charter schools in the city. She told CBS News' Don Dahler it felt like winning the lottery when her children were admitted.

"I was excited. I jumped for joy. The kids were jumping because we all knew that once we paved the path with that one, that all the other siblings were able to get into this fantastic, phenomenal school," she said.

But, plans to expand their schools have been repealed by de Blasio, who said it's an effort ensure that public schools, which often share space with charter schools, get equal resources.

"We know in the past that some of the public schools that received charter schools coming into them actually saw their programming diminished, saw the dynamics for their kids diminished," de Blasio said during a press conference. "We don't want that imbalance, we don't want that unfairness."

The move is a sharp turn away from the pro-charter policies under de Blasio's predecessor Michael Bloomberg.

Eva Moskowitz is the Success Academy Charter Schools founder and chief executive officer. She runs some of the schools impacted by the reversal, which are some of the top performing schools in the state.

"We're in the top one percent in that state of New York in math and we're in the top 7 percent in reading and writing. And that is all schools. And our students in Harlem, in the South Bronx, in Bed-Stuy are significantly less socio-economically advantaged," said Moskowitz.

She told Dahler that she doesn't know what will happen to her students if the mayor does not reverse his decision.

More than 600 students in New York City could be impacted. Over 2.5 million students nationwide attend charter schools. In 2013, those schools added 288,000 new students, the largest increase in 14 years.

New York City schools chancellor Carmen Farina insists de Blasio still sees a place for them in his city, specifically "charter schools that add value - that work with us in terms of how do we make sure all kids are."

Farina added, "I'm in charge of 1.2 million kids as is Bill and I think we take that responsibility very seriously."

This political skirmish over charter schools comes at a time when de Blasio is promoting his major education platform, which is an effort to provide universal pre-kindergarten for all children in New York. He will also be traveling to the state's capital on Tuesday to fight for that program and its controversial funding plan to tax those making over $500,000 a year to pay for it.



http://nypost.com/2014/03/03/cuomo-backs-funding-for-charter-schools-evicted-by-de-blasio/

GOP brass: Cuomo backs charter schools evicted by de Blasio
By Carl Campanile

Gov. Cuomo told business leaders that the state would step in to pay the rent of city charter schools denied free space under a crackdown by Mayor De Blasio, according to two sources. They said the governor pledged to support legislation that would give charters extra money to lease new facilities if they get the boot from city buildings.

Cuomo made the comments on Feb. 24 at a private meeting at the Harvard Club in Midtown attended by about 100 Wall Street titans and financiers, according to the event’s organizers.

Three days later, de Blasio yanked approvals that had been granted by the Bloomberg administration allowing three charter schools operated by Eva Moskowitz’s Success Academy to “co-locate” in public-school buildings.

“In the Q&A section, there were two questions on charter schools,” said David Malpass, a GOP businessman and former candidate for US Senate who helped organize the breakfast meeting.

“The governor said he’d support legislation to reimburse charter schools for facility costs if they were pushed out of shared-used facilities,” Malpass reported in a Feb. 26 memo to associates.

Malpass said Cuomo also “asked for help in supporting charter schools” in his remarks.
Asked about his memo on Monday, Malpass told The Post, “Cuomo was clear that he supported charter schools and specifically facility support.”

While confirming he talked up charter schools at the breakfast, Cuomo’s office disputed that he endorsed any proposal.

But a second source at the breakfast backed up Malpass’ account, saying Cuomo vowed to help charter schools “dislocated” by the mayor.

Charters currently receive operating funds from the state based on the number of students they serve. But they don’t get state money for facilities, which is why most of the city’s 183 charters share space with public schools.

The Post reported Monday that Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos also vowed to help address the charters’ space crunch as part of state budget talks.

About 4,500 charter parents, students and educators — many from Moskowitz’s 22 schools — plan to descend on Albany Tuesday to urge lawmakers to protect school choice.

Moskowitz fired off a letter Monday slamming de Blasio for suggesting that the pro-charter rally was a “march against pre-K.”

“That claim is utterly false, and there is no basis for it. We support pre-K, and we are going to march in favor of good educational opportunities for all children,” Moskowitz told Hizzoner.




The CBS article made it appear that DiBlasio is trying to close charter schools, but it looks to me like he is shifting some funds away from three charter schools presently located in public school facilities to put it toward universal Pre-K and new locations for the charter schools. I would say that there is a great need for universal Pre-K as well as for academically advanced charter schools. Also, DeBlasio is just moving the charter schools from the public school facilities, forcing them to provide their own campus.

There is also concern, predictably, over taxation on citizens who make $500,000 or more to pay for the Pre-K. At $500,000 they will not be bankrupted by paying more tax. Since Cuomo has promised state funding to pay for new facilities for the charter schools, I don't see the problem. True some students would have to move to a new location, which might not be as convenient for their parents or cause them to be bused farther away, but the goal of maintaining all the charter schools as well as public schools and Pre-K seems worth it to me, and both DeBlasio and Cuomo are trying to improve the educational opportunities for NYC student.




Drugmakers Slash Spending On Doctors' Sales Talks – NPR
by Charles Ornstein, Eric Sagara and Ryann Grochowski Jones
March 04, 2014
­
Some of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies have dramatically reduced payments to health professionals for promotional speeches amid heightened public scrutiny of such spending, a ProPublica analysis shows.

Eli Lilly & Co.'s payments to speakers dropped by 55 percent, from $47.9 million in 2011 to $21.6 million in 2012.

Pfizer's speaking payments fell 62 percent over the same period, from nearly $22 million to $8.3 million.

And Novartis, the largest drugmaker in the U.S. as measured by 2012 sales, spent 40 percent less on speakers that year than it did between October 2010 and September 2011, reducing payments from $24.8 million to $14.8 million.

The sharp declines coincide with increased attention from regulators, academic institutions and the public to pharmaceutical company marketing practices. A number of companies have settled federal whistleblower lawsuits in recent years that accused them of improperly marketing their drugs.

In addition, the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, a part of the 2010 health reform law, will soon require all pharmaceutical and medical device companies to publicly report payments to physicians. The first disclosures required under the act are expected in September and will cover the period of August to December 2013.

Within the industry, some companies are re-evaluating the role of physician speakers in their marketing repertoire. GlaxoSmithKline announced in December that it would stop paying doctors to speak on behalf of its drugs. Its speaking tab plummeted from $24 million in 2011 to $9.3 million in 2012.

Not all companies have cut speaker payments: Johnson & Johnson increased such spending by 17 percent from 2011 to 2012; AstraZeneca's payments stayed about flat in 2012 after a steep decline the previous year.

ProPublica has been tracking publicly reported payments by drug companies since 2010 as part of its Dollars for Docs project. Users can search for their doctors to see if they have received compensation from the 15 companies that make such information available online. (We've just updated our application to include payments made through the end of 2012, totaling $2.5 billion. Forest Labs, which only began reporting in 2012, reported speaking payments of $40 million, more than any other company in Dollars for Docs.)

Some companies in the database said their declines have less to do with the Sunshine Act and more to do with the loss of patent protection for key products. Lilly, for example, began facing generic competition to its blockbuster antipsychotic Zyprexa in late 2011. Its antidepressant Cymbalta lost its patent at the end of 2013.

"The value of educational programs tends to be higher when we're launching a new medicine or we have new clinical data/new indication," Lilly spokesman J. Scott MacGregor said in an email, adding that the drop in speaking payments also reflects the increased use of Web conferencing.

Pfizer's patent on Lipitor, its top-selling cholesterol drug, expired in 2011.
"Like any other company, our business practices must adapt to the changing nature of our product portfolio, based in part on products going off patent and new products being introduced into the market," company spokesman Dean Mastrojohn said in an email.
Novartis' patent for its breast cancer drug Femara expired in 2011, its hypertension drug Diovan in 2012 and its cancer drug Zometa in 2013. In a statement, Novartis said speaking payments dropped in 2012 in part because of a shift from big blockbuster drugs that many doctors prescribe toward specialty products prescribed by fewer physicians. Resources were also shifted "to support potential future product launches," a spokeswoman said in an email.

One of the first drugmakers to disclose its payments to doctors has pulled the data offline.

Cephalon, now a subsidiary of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, had reported its ties to doctors since 2009 under the terms of a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services. The pact was put in place after the company agreed to pay a $425 million settlement in 2008 for marketing Actiq, Gabitril and Provigil for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

But that requirement expired last September, and Teva pulled the data offline earlier this year when it updated its website.

Cephalon's payments from 2009 to 2012 continue to be available on ProPublica's Dollars for Docs website, which aggregates payments made by 15 pharmaceutical companies since 2009. During that time, the company reported nearly $90 million in payments to doctors.

The gap in the company's disclosures will be short. Teva will have to resume publicly reporting its payments to doctors later this year under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which requires that all pharmaceutical and medical device companies disclose payments over $10 to doctors. The first report, covering the period of August to December 2013, is expected to be released in September of this year.
The industry's increased emphasis on expensive specialty medications for such conditions as multiple sclerosis or hepatitis C has been striking, said Aaron Kesselheim, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. A piece in the New England Journal of Medicine last week noted that half of the 139 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2009 were for rare diseases and cancers.

"It's possible the number of physicians they need to support sales of these items is less, leading to lower payments overall," Kesselheim said.

In some cases, companies maintained or made smaller cuts to other forms of physician compensation while pulling back dramatically on speaking payments. Pfizer's spending on consultants dropped 9 percent from 2011 to 2012, far less than its payments to speakers. The company's spending on research stayed essentially the same.

Lilly increased spending on physician researchers by more than 20 percent, while reducing payments to consultants by more than two-thirds.

Many bioethicists and leaders of major academic medical centers frown upon physicians delivering promotional talks for drug companies, saying they turn doctors into sales representatives rather than leaders in research and patient care.

Officials with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry trade group, dispute this characterization. They said they are working with their member companies to prepare for the Sunshine Act and have created a campaign to promote the value of drug company-doctor collaborations.

"Companies will make their own independent decisions about how to engage professionals," said Kendra Martello, PhRMA's deputy vice president of strategic operations.

Scott Liebman, an attorney who advises pharmaceutical companies on the Sunshine Act, said it's too early to know how much the law's requirements are affecting company practices, in part because it's so new. The fact that some companies are cutting back on speaking while preserving their spending on research and consulting suggests that other business forces could be at play, he added.

"It's very hard to pinpoint exactly why that's happening," Liebman said. "I think there's a lot of potential answers to that. I just don't know which is the right one."



When I first heard that my physician's choice of a medication for me might be due to which company had given him samples and convinced him to issue a prescription for them, I was startled. I had considered doctors to be like ministers are supposed to be– free of outside influences based on making more money. The need for an unbiased and scholarly choice of medications is very great. When I heard that doctors were giving speeches to sell these products because they were paid by the manufacturers and not because they were so very thoroughly convinced of the value of the medication that they were moved to promote them, I was again shocked.

When I was young, a doctor was almost like a god, partly because the causes of illness are so powerful and mysterious to the lay person. We have trusted medical professionals completely in too many cases. Meanwhile medications and treatments have grown more and more expensive for the patient, as have the doctor's fees.

Several times I have gone to the pharmacy to pick up a medicine and found that it cost some extremely high amount, and so I went back to the doctor and told him to give me an older, cheaper and hopefully generic drug. No doctor has refused to do that, but they don't seem to know how much the products cost, nor really care unless the insurance doesn't pay or the patient complains.

I'm glad to see this Physician Payment Sunshine Act. It certainly seems to be working to cut down on the practice of basically bribing doctors to support new products. Maybe it will also begin to lower the prices of these new drugs. Often there is an older and therefore more thoroughly de-bugged product that I would prefer.




­Putin Says Those Aren't Russian Forces In Crimea – NPR
by Mark Memmott
March 04, 2014
­
(We updated this post at 11 a.m. ET.)
Russian soldiers have not occupied government buildings and surrounded Ukrainian military bases on the Crimean Peninsula, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted Tuesday during a news conference near Moscow at which he gave an account of recent events that contradicts reports from the ground.

Instead, he told reporters that the heavily armed men are "local self-defense forces."
What's more, anything Russia has done, Putin said without offering specifics, has been part of a "humanitarian mission" to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea.

But even as he said no Russian troops have been involved in the latest events in Crimea, Putin drew comparisons that would seem to indicate they had been. "Our actions are often described by the West as not legitimate, but look at U.S. operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya," he said, according to a BBC translation of his comments. "Our actions are legitimate from the point of view of international law, because Ukraine's legitimate president asked us for help. ... Defending these people is in our interests. ... We do not want to 'enslave' anyone."

Putin made the claims about a lack of involvement by Russian forces even though Russian military helicopters have been seen in the skies over Crimea, Russian trucks have been seen moving the armed men to key locations, and the soldiers in unmarked uniforms speak Russian and in some cases have told reporters and local residents that they are members of the Russian military.

The Guardian, BBC News and Reuters live-blogged as Putin spoke. Among the highlights:
— Is Putin concerned about a war breaking out? "No, because we will not go to war with the Ukrainian people." (The Guardian)

— Does he think ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled to Russia last week, has a political future? No, "and I have told this to him. ... He would have been killed in Ukraine had we not helped him." (BBC News)

— Sanctions against Russia would make matters worse. "All threats against Russia are counterproductive and harmful," Putin said, while adding that Russia is ready to host the G-8 summit in June — but if Western leaders do not want to come, "they don't need to." (Reuters)

— Russia is not going to try to annex Crimea, Putin said. (BBC News)

On 'Morning Edition': NPR's David Greene speaks with 'New York Times' Moscow correspondent Steven Lee Myers

The Russian leader's news conference followed word from Moscow that "tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine's border" are returning to their bases.

That's being taken "generally as a good sign," NPR's Peter Kenyon, who is in Crimea, said on Morning Edition.

There was also no "military storm" — a rumored attack by Russian forces — Tuesday morning.

But the rumors about a possible Russian attack had been debunked earlier. As for the order for troops taking part in exercises on the Russian side of the border with Ukraine to return to their bases, New York Times correspondent Steven Lee Myers pointed out on Morning Edition that those exercises had already been scheduled to end today.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Kiev today for talks with officials from the interim government that replaced the Yanukovych regime. He arrives, the White House says in a statement released early Tuesday, with the news that the Obama administration "is working with Congress and the government of Ukraine to provide $1 billion in loan guarantees aimed at helping insulate vulnerable Ukrainians from the effects of reduced energy subsidies."

After landing in Kiev Tuesday, Kerry brought flowers to a shrine to those killed in recent weeks and reiterated that the U.S. stands with Ukraine "for self-determination."

Incredibly moving visit to Shrine of the Fallen.Courageous,proud people.We stand w/ Ukrainians for self-determination pic.twitter.com/N6klo1LanK
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) March 4, 2014

Although the situation in Crimea has been tense since the armed men showed up Friday to surround military bases and take over some strategic locations, there has been no serious violence. Ukrainian forces have stayed in their barracks. The only confrontation reported so far came Tuesday, when some of the armed men fired warning shots in the air after Ukrainian military personnel — who weren't armed — tried to enter an airfield that has been taken over.

We've previously summed up what sparked months of protest in Kiev and ultimately led to Yanukovych's dismissal last month:
"The protests were sparked in part by the president's rejection of a pending trade treaty with the European Union and his embrace of more aid from Russia. Protesters were also drawn into the streets to demonstrate against government corruption."




This is the second time Putin has criticized US involvement in a foreign country, the first being in Syria, only to give every appearance of backing down potentially as a result of our involvement. Some people criticized Obama for threatening without following through on the threat, but I think the threat is enough, and may be necessary to get Putin to move to a more peaceful stance, even if he does it by denying that he ever sent in Russian troops. Besides, I am sure that Obama will act on the threat if necessary, which is specifically that we will involve the UN and apply sanctions, if Russia does move to annex Crimea and invade the rest of the Ukrainian territory. I think Obama is “crazy like a fox,” and I admire his moderated but direct stances in these two cases. I think he is a good diplomat and president. Congratulations, Mr. Obama!




­Nepal Cracks Down On Messy Everest Climbers – NPR
by Scott Neuman
March 04, 2014
­
As Everest climbing season gets started this week, Nepal is enforcing a rule for scaling the world's tallest mountain that might sound like it came from your mother: Pick up after yourself.

While it's technically not a new rule, in the past it's rarely if ever been enforced.
Some 4,000 people have scaled Mount Everest since the 29,035-foot-high Himalayan peak was first summited in 1953 by New Zealand climber Edmund Hillary and a Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. Until now, most climbers, concerned with getting up and back down alive, have discarded mountains of litter — everything from food wrappers to shredded tents — in their tracks.

No more. Authorities in Nepal, which administers the mountain's south approaches, estimate that the average climber discards about 18 pounds of trash (minus empty oxygen bottles) along their route. And that's just what they expect them to return at base camp — or else forfeit a hefty $4,000 deposit.

"We are not asking climbers to search and pick up trash left by someone else," Maddhu Sudan Burlakoti, head of the mountaineering department at the Tourism Ministry, tells The Associated Press. "We just want them to bring back what they took up."
Since the requirement is for climbers to return with the trash they brought up (or its equivalent weight), it won't do much about the garbage heaps already up there — but at least it might keep the situation from getting worse.

The AP says:
"The goal is to make sure no new trash will be left on Everest, which has earned the nickname 'the world's highest garbage dump' because of the tons of crumpled food wrappers, shredded tents and spent oxygen cylinders littering the mountain."

"The government has long asked climbers to clear their trash, but there was no mechanism to check what people brought down. There also was little or no enforcement despite threats [to keep the deposit] — which were rarely carried out."

Under the new rules, "once [climbers] submit the rubbish to officials of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee on their return to the Everest base camp, they will get a receipt. They will need to submit that to us so that they can reclaim their deposits," Madhusudan Burlakoti told BBC Nepali's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu.
Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Everest, which they consider a sacred mountain.

Last week, Nepal, which garners significant revenue from climbing fees and services provided to Everest expeditions, announced that authorities plan to station security guards at the base of Everest following a high-altitude brawl last April between European climbers and their Sherpa guides. CNN says that now:
"Up to nine officers from the police and army will be sent to the mountain to try to resolve conflicts on the spot rather than having to appeal to authorities in Kathmandu.

"'The police will be the state's representative at the mountain to verify incidents that have to be reported to the authorities,' said Dipendra Poudel, a mountaineering official.

" 'It's [part of] our effort to make mountaineering respectable.' "
In 2010, a team of Sherpas climbed the mountain with the sole purpose of trying to remove the trash there.




I was riding on the subway train in Washington DC when I watched a young woman consciously and callously drop her used Kleenex on the floor of the train. I didn't confront her, because I didn't want to start a fight, but I was disgusted. Some people just aren't good citizens and have no shame about it. Yet they will yell bloody murder if anyone “disrespects” them.

As far as I know that has only become a word in the last decade or so. That's another thing that gets on my nerves – teenaged terminology that often amounts to a foreign language. Their goal in so many cases is really to “disrespect” mature adults in every way they can. Those droopy drawers are probably the height of it. Luckily I stay at home now and rarely see these things. Nearly everybody in my building are senior citizens, and I have never been “disrespected” by any of the handicapped younger people who are also here.