"60 Minutes" on March 13, 2011

**Relating to Saddam Hussein having biological weapons. Next Saturday marks 8th annivesary of invasion of Iraq. An Iraqi defector code-named curve ball provided information. In this episode, "60 Minutes" found curve ball. and interviewed, a 44 year old chemical engineer, Rafid Alwan. He escaped from Iraq in late 1990s. He went to Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Spain, Belgium, Germany. In Nov. 1999, he took train from Belgium to Germany. He told German intelligence that there were mobile chemical weapons in Iraq. The Germans believed him. There were about 100 written reports in Germany. In Dec. 1998, Saddam kicked out inspectors. Curve Ball told people what they expected to hear. Curve Ball said Dr. Basel El Satti was in charge. Curve Ball needed money, and got a job at a Burger King. Sketpics of Curve Ball at the CIA were shouted down. "Facts and conclusions based on solid evidence." Feb. 5, 2003. An Iraqi chemical engineer who supervised these activities. Curve Ball and his family now live in southern Germany.

See also 60Minutesovertime.com.

**Counterfeit drugs. Sanjay Gupta talked about counterfeit prescription drugs. $75 billion per year. First video was from Lima, Peru. John Clark from American drug company Pfizer was involved in the Peruvian raid. Sanjay said: I wouldn't be able to tell if the medicines are real. Pfizer has a testing facility in Groton, CT. Cytotec. Kumar Kibble of ICE. Low risk/high reward opportunity. 36 million Americans buy drugs over the internet. FDA's David Elder. Zyprexa. Fake Lipitor. FDA checks the ink of the labels. EasyMeds4U. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. 40% of drugs taken in this country come from other countries. 80% of the active ingredients. Case of blood thinner Heparin. One of raw ingredients came from China. Baxter. FDA only inspects about 12% of overseas facilities. Hamburg: It is economics for the company.

[Side point: Part of the plotline of "The Mentalist" on March 10, 2011 was on a doctor diluting drugs, with Patrick noting that patients were not responding properly. This was not the first time such plotline was used on television.]

**A bold new experiment in public education. Charter school paying teachers $125,000 per year.
Ability to produce evidence that students moved from point A to point B. Teacher has to be able to engage students. Higher salaries produce higher expectations. There is no contract; employees are "at will." Teachers are continuously evaluated. Laser focussed and super sharp. Track student's progress. Of the teachers at TEP: "They actually care." Joel Klein. if you have a pulse, you get tenure.

The first question at TEP: Is the class room managed?

IPBiz notes: tho, towards the end of the story, it was revealed TEP students didn't stack up well against students of other schools, the real question should relate to the CHANGE in the students.

That said, the emphasis of MANAGEMENT reminds one that venture capitalists generally rate management above patents in reasons for investing.