Walgreens -- Intentional High Prices -- What a Strategy!

USA Today and others posted in the last few days that "200 Walgreens Stores Closing".  It's no wonder with their pricing policies.

I needed some Amlodipine to fill a prescription.  I knew that walking in off the street Walgreens would soak you. I just didn't know how much. On my initial visit, they were going to charge me $58 for 30 tablets 10mg. I had just recently learned of GoodRX.com where I had cross-checked prices and they were nowhere near this number. I mentioned it to the pharmacist, then had to dig out the coupon on my phone. They dropped the price to around $19. Still high compared to others, but I thought $3-4 for convenience was ok.

So recently I went back for a refill. Now the price is $28! With the coupon! I went to check GoodRX.com Here's the list:


Wait--most expensive was Walgreens "WITH MEMBERSHIP"? What does that mean?


So with a $20 annual membership, you can then get it for $10, according to GoodRX. But I can walk in off the street at H.E.B. and get it for $12, and not be tied to their pharmacy. But to do that at Walgreens?  Fork over your $69.78!

Forget that. I hope my local Walgreens closes and I can get a replacement store with reasonable pricing.

Michigan-13 Elects a (Profane) Idiot

Bad enough that Rashida Tlaib, the new congressperson from south Detroit, talks about being a proud Palestinian, rather than a proud American, but then in a celebratory speech in a bar, she proceeds to call the President a motherf***er.

It reminds me of a song with the line "If it wasn't for low class, she wouldn't have no class at all."

Here's a clip of her inability to control herself. Jump forward to 4:20 to get to the heart of the matter.

 

forward to 4:20

 Hopefully her son wasn't there to hear this, but it was a momentary peek behind the Trump Derangement Syndrome curtain that is held by the Democratic Party.

They would rather destroy President Trump than help the country. That is obvious with their refusal to provide adequate funds for border protection, instead keeping the federal government in a shutdown status.

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Another Way to (Maybe) Get Rid of Moiré on Your Images

Courtesy slrlounge.com

With my old postcards, I sometimes use them to enhance my blog writings. Many times I get a moiré pattern from the scan. I've read other places about adding Noise, median, etc. but it doesn't do much of a fix for me, except to make the scan more blurry. So I thought I'd try something else.

First up, my original scan:

Notice the significant patterning on the grass and on the street. Turning the postcard in the scanner to a portrait position did not help remove the moiré. Neither did editing it in Photoshop.

So I re-scanned it at an angle---like this:

Lo, and behold the moiré seems to be gone.  Here's the postcard again rotated and cropped for easier viewing:

Maybe it will work for you too!

(Click on each image for a larger view).

Good luck!

An Open Letter to President Obama

January 20, 2017

Dear Mr. President,

Your term is about to end. Frankly, I’m pleased you’re about to leave. When you arrived in 2009, it was with real hope that you could uniquely unite America and reinvigorate its constituents. Some of us carried a bit of cynicism about your desire to do that. Sadly, we were right.

After four years of your leadership, the country was still in economic doldrums. But Americans reelected you in spite of this. Maybe it was guilt, maybe it was to provide a second chance. But it ended up no better. So what will your legacy be? Here are some items to consider:

1.      Operation Fast and Furious
Your Justice Department allowed thousands of guns to pass into the hands of smugglers, in hope of tracing them to Mexican cartels. You lost track of them resulting in your Attorney General Eric Holder being held in contempt by Congress for his refusal to turn over documents about this failed operation that ended up providing a gun that killed border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

2.      State Department E-mails
In a brazen attempt to keep her communications private (in violation of federal laws), your Secretary of State set up a private server outside the  government’s purview, using it to transmit classified information, even communicating to you, Mr. President. You in return sent emails to her non-government ID. Even your FBI Director James Comey had to report that the secretary and her team were “extremely careless” in protecting our national secrets.

3.      Benghazi
America lost Libyan Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in an attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Your government’s response with just two months left in the campaign of 2012? You failed to immediately use available covert forces. (Note: See 13 Hours for details). The Secretary of State claimed the attack was a reaction to A VIDEO, with Ms. Clinton even telling this lie to one of the victim’s parents. You even pushed a judge into jailing the video’s author.

4.      Hacking at the Office of Personnel Management
This hack exposed millions of federal workers’ information—the biggest data breach in government history. Katherine Archuleta, the Office’s manager, had been warned repeatedly about security deficiencies but never took the time to have them fixed.

5.      Scandal at Veterans Affairs
Over 35 veterans died waiting for appointments at an Arizona VA facility. Because of the abhorrently long times (sometimes many months) to get an appointment, the VA actually went to the trouble of creating a secret waiting list, to hide the lengthy waits. You admitted such in November, 2016 when you acknowledged “it was scandalous what happened”.

And the list goes on.

• Your administration never once achieving 3% economic growth in a given quarter (for EIGHT YEARS)—matching a record that went back to the early 1930’s.
  
  
• Billions of $$$ are being spent for a high-speed train in California between L.A. and San Francisco that is now 7 years behind schedule, with the first leg between Fresno and Merced still not built.
  
  
• You authorized a policy in your Justice Department against policemen resulting in increased crime across the country as police everywhere pulled back on active policing, resulting in multiple loners targeting and murdering police.
  
  
• You DOUBLED the national debt—overspending in eight years more than any ALL OTHER PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED in history.
  
  
• You authorized negotiations and then signed an “executive order” that authorizes Iran to become a nuclear power. This was all part of a failed foreign policy where the USA is now perceived as weak as a world power. You didn’t do a treaty because you knew the Senate would never approve.
• You authorized the swap of one low-level U.S. deserter (Bowe Bergdahl) for five significant Taliban leaders being held in Guantanamo, a crass move that reeked of politics over country.
  
  
• As a result of your policies, your party lost seats at all levels of government, resulting in the fewest number of Democratic representatives since the 1920’s.

That, sir, are some highlights of  your legacy.

Now we’re on to hope and change again. And we’re hoping this time it will be real hope for a good change, not a bad one. Put away your pen and your cell phone, Mr. Obama. I for one am glad to see you go.

Addendum 2/1/2021

How bad was Obama? Thomas Sowell, renowned economist, with his opinion (in 2016):

 

Bradford Caslon