Johnson & Johnson to resume distribution of children’s medication

The pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson will continue the shipments of one million bottles of medication for children next week, a company official said.

Bill Weldon, Chief Executive Officer of Johnson & Johnson, said that in October 4, the company will commence the distribution of the drugs that was previously under a recall on April. He said that the company would be shipping four million bottles of the medicines in the U.S. before the year’s end. Weldon made the statement that he prepared for tomorrow’s congressional committee investigation about the recall.

Government officials wanted to investigate the recall of 40 children’s over-the-counter liquid drugs manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. The recall happened on April when McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, initiated the recollection of the drugs. Furthermore, the government officials were concerned about the issues regarding a silent recall of the drug Motrin in some stores.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare made the silent recall in some stores, especially in gasoline stores. The company did the silent recall by hiring contractors who bought the drugs from the stores. Johnson & Johnson issued the recall of the children’s medicines after they found out that some of the drugs were defective and do not readily dissolve when taken in by consumers.

Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns questioned the action of McNeil Consumer Healthcare about that silent recall. He said that the action should not be the way the company should handle a recall.

Weldon defended the company by saying that McNeil informed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the recall. However, he agreed that McNeil should never handle the situation that way.

Weldon said that due to the recalls, the company had let the public down. In response, he said that the company will do its best to maintain high quality standards of their medications, especially those intended for children.

Comedian Greg Giraldo died at the age of 44 on Wednesday due to accidental overdose.

On Saturday night, comedian Greg Giraldo was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after found unconscious on the floor in his hotel room. According to medical experts, Giraldo suffered from drug overdose, which caused him to be in a critical state.

Giraldo’s overdose was a result of accidental intake of excessive amount of on-prescription medications. In connection with this, the comedian apparently mixed the drugs and moments later, he was found unconscious by a friend. However, the medication that caused Giraldo’s overdose was not yet determined.

It has been reported that Comedian Greg Giraldo is clinging to life after suffering from a drug overdose. Also, it has been confirmed that this incident is not a suicide attempt.

Sadly, the “Last Comic Standing” judge, Greg Giraldo died as a result of complications from the overdose incident on Wednesday, September 29, 2010.

The death of the comedian was confirmed by someone close to Giraldo. According to the source, “Greg passed away today at the hospital in New Brunswick as a result of an accidental overdose. His family was by his side.”

Moreover, a statement was released by the management of Comedy Central about the death of one of their beloved colleague, “The tragic news of Greg’s passing hits us very, very hard. Greg has been a close member of the Comedy Central family for years, injecting his energy and wicked sense of humor into countless projects. The comedy community lost a brother today. Our thoughts are with his family.”

Also, the producers of “Last Comic Standing” paid tribute to the late comedian and released a statement: “Greg was one of the most talented comedians of our time. He was truly brilliant. His work will surely continue to influence and inspire us. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Right after the news about Giraldo’s death, most of the comedian’s friends and colleagues used Twitter to say their grief as well as relive the greatest memories that Giraldo shared with them.

America’s first primetime animated sitcom The Flintstones celebrates its 50th anniversary on Thursday.

On September 30, 2010, animated sitcom The Flintstones celebrated their golden anniversary. The Flintstones first aired on ABC-TV on September 30, 1960. At first, many had assumed that this was an animated adaptation of “The Honeymooners”. Actually, Hannah-Barbera production aimed this animated sitcom not just to entertain kids, but mostly adults, and make a more adult-styled cartoon.

Ever since The Flintstones first aired and became a television hit, many cartooned series were launched like The Simpson, Family Guy, and King of the Hill where a particular family served as the main characters. In addition, right after “The Simpsons” ended in 1997; The Flintstones was considered as the longest-running primetime animated series.

The show has a modern Stone Age Theme. It was set on a fictitious town called Bedrock, where the Flintstones reside together with their neighbors, the Rubbles. These two families shared the screen time with lots of dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and other extinct creatures, which some served as appliances.

Moreover, the show has even influenced the pop culture in numerous ways. There are theme parks designed just like the town of Bedrock, Chewable Vitamins that were designed with Flintstones characters as well as cereals named Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles.

The characters where brought to life by the voices of Alan Reed for Fred Flintstone; Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone; Mel Blanc as Barney Rubble; and Bea Benaderet as Betty Rubble.

After this show went off the air in 1966, “The Flintstones” seemed to greatly influenced many, which caused this continuously ran in syndications for many years. In fact, it generated numerous productions, both on television and film.

As a solution for the continued war happening in Afghanistan, their government formed a 70-member council that will oversee efforts to promote peace in the country.

The new High Council for Peace has 70 members including jihadi leaders, communist-regime former members, former Taliban, civil head officials, religious group leaders, and leaders from ethnic groups. The council will function as a body that formalizes efforts that would make Taliban leaders and other insurgent foot soldiers reconciling with the government.

Previously, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that he would conduct talks with the insurgent soldiers who said would like to come back peacefully under the Afghan government. However, Taliban said that they will not make the move until all the foreign forces were out of the country.

Waheed Omar, a spokesperson of President Karzai, said that the establishment of the High Council for Peace, which will open the communication between the government and the rebel group, was new, as there were no previous contacts for negotiations from both parties. He added that the council will be the sole responsible for making the talks with the rebel group and that no other branch or group in the government will handle the same issue.

Omar also denied that issues regarding the timely formation of the council after the announcement of U.S. President Barack Obama that the American forces will be withdrawing from Afghanistan. He said that the council was formed to reach and make peace with the Taliban group. He cleared that the sole reason for the formation of the High Council for Peace was that the country and its people needed peace and any other relations such as withdrawal or presence of foreign forces in the country did not affect the decision.

The council planned to invite about 25,000 to 35,000 Taliban and foot soldiers off the battlefield and back to normal lives. They promised to give those soldiers jobs, literacy, and vocational training for them to be able to start a new life.

Hewlett-Packard reassures investors that it will pursue its plans following the unexpected departure of the company’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Hurd.

HP, the largest technology company in the world emphasized its continuing effort for its evolving market mobile units like the tablets, networking and storage. However, the contentions in these fields are becoming tight these days.

The company that has been recognized for its budget limitation likewise made an effort to emphasize its investments, which include adding thousands of workers to its marketing corps.

HP declare 12% to 14% increase in non General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) revenues in 2011 fiscal and profit increase of 5% to 7% to supports its shares gain over 1% in after-hours trading.

In line with this, HP did not reveal who will be the next CEO, regardless of the expectations among other investors that the company should decide following its yearly analyst conference on Tuesday.

After the controversial ejection of Hurd, stockholders had complained regarding the spending on acquisitions of the company, as well as worrying about the latest aggressive moves of its rivals like International Business Machines to Oracle.

Some personalities that are included on the list of choices for the top position include Ann Livermore, enterprise division chief and Todd Bradley, PC group head.

Interim HP chief executive Cathie Lesjak pointed out what she recognized the “extraordinary opportunity” of HP to improve, and calculated about $1.6 trillion growth in 2013.

She likewise defended the latest strategy of HP, despite the negative feedbacks of some of their rivals.

According to Lesjak, innovation has, is, as well as will continue to be the focus of the company, and nothing that HP will intensify R&D expenditure fast compared to the fiscal 2011 profit.

Former Cleveland superstar Lebron James credits his former mentor Mike Brown for his improved defensive skills.

After the roller coaster relationship with the Cleveland and last season’s playoff ejection, speculation appeared that the ejection of Mike Brown as the head coach was connected to the weaken relationship with James.

Today, both individuals had moved on from the team, James admitted after their Tuesday practice with his new team Miami Heat that Brown has prepared him to execute smooth transition from one defensive team to another.

Following his impressive performance with the first practice of the Heat of training camp, he started that there are some comparisons in the commitment and strategy to defense.

The Heat as well as the Cleveland placed among the leaders of the league last NBA season in different defensive levels that include the percentage of defensive field goal and allowing few scores from their opponents.

According to him, he came from the Cavaliers with Mike Brown, who was an impressive defensive tactician, and he will be trying to apply the things he had learn from his former coach.

Miami Heat’s head coach Erik Spoelstra has talked to Brown during his initial approach to James. Both Spoelstra and Brown had been good friends during their rivalry playing for the West Coast Conference college teams.

It has been their attitude before that the Heat usually spends their first few days of training camp focusing only on defensive skills. However, they didn’t execute any offensive drills on Tuesday, and according to James it was not a big deal and that happens normally.

James also stated that he was recognized for his defensive skills and he will be continuing to keep that in mind because this is where he plays his best basketball.

The Obama administration seeks ways that will require social networking companies and voice-over-Internet service providers to let law agents wiretap communications.

According to administration officials, it can help the law enforcement agents monitor communications during terrorism and criminal investigations.

The proposal of the U.S. administration came because of the concern that social customs and technology surpassed the law and that authorities do not have the capacity to monitor the new methods of communication nowadays. The administration officials said that the initiative opened the 15 year old debate over the balance between personal privacy and national security.

According to Valerie E. Caproni, FBI general counsel, this issue is about lawfully authorized intercepts and it is not about expanding authority. It is all about preserving the ability to execute authorities to implement national security and public safety.

The idea of wiretapping communications through the Internet is still in discussion between federal bodies which includes the Justice Department, the FBI and the National Security Council. According to congressional and administration officials, there will be no draft language or clear timeline.

The issue is based on a 1994 telecommunications law known as the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. This law requires broadband and phone companies to create interception feature in their networks for the purpose of law enforcement. The law states that the law enforcement agent must have a court order that is based on credible cause to gain access to the network of the companies.

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are not included in the CALEA. The technologies that they have are not created to give the law enforcement agents real time access to its contents.

The law enforcement agencies wants the firms that offer encrypted communications to provide them clear text instead of encrypted data.

The world biggest food company, Nestle, is preparing to produce nutritional products that will prevent or even treat diseases.

Some of the diseases that can be treated or prevented include obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular problem. Nestle also revealed yesterday that the head of the Nestle’s company in the United States, Luis Cantrell, will be the chief executive of Nestle Health Science.

According to analyst Jean-Marie L’Home, the company can utilize money from its sale last August in order to fund the study as well as become the leader in food products, which aim in providing the health benefits and can overcome other companies. In August, Nestle gained almost $28.3 million from Novartis for a majority venture in the Alcon eye-care section.

The analyst likewise believed that the company will become the leader in this particular sector in the coming years.

In line with this, Nestle is setting the latest division as directors intensify their analysis in promoting health advantages.

Meanwhile, Groupe Danone, whose medical-nutrients section has sales about $1.2 billion last year, pulled out its applications for the health affirmations of its Actimel yogurt drinks to the European Food Safety Authority for some clarification issues.

The new section of Nestle will incorporate its existing health care nourishment business that has markets almost $1.6 billion in 2009, the company revealed. Nestle is likewise developing the Nestle Institute of Health Science, which is an organization be based on its research partner, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.

In addition, former chief scientific officer of ViaCyte, Emmanuel Baetge will head the research organization.

The BlackBerry maker, Research In Motion (RIM), introduced its very first tablet computer at a developers conference in San Francisco, California, Monday.

According to the company, the BlackBerry PlayBook will be aimed mainly for business users. The design and features of BlackBerry PlayBook are especially made for business people.

RIM has given up its leadership in the smart phone industry to Apple and the phones that are based on the Android operating system of Google. According to reports, the introduction of the new tablet computer of BlackBerry will not end the criticism of some analyst that RIM is still competing with Apple.

According to Michael Lazaridis, co-chief executive of RIM, the new tablet computer that they introduced contained a lot of features that are requested by corporate information technology departments. Lazaridis said that PlayBook is different from Apple’s iPad.

According to a statement of Mr. Lazaridis, BlackBerry PlayBook is the first professional tablet computer in the world. He also highlighted the feature that the tablet computer is compatible with the special servers that a lot of corporations and governments used to monitor and control the BlackBerry devices of their employees.

The company mentioned about the different specifications and features of the new device but a lot of questions remained unanswered such as the price of the new tablet computer. The company was very vocal about the release date of its new tablet computer. They indicate that it will be made available early next year.

According to Charles S. Golvin, principal analyst with Forrester Research, the new tablet computer is a very real product but it is very much work in progress. The PlatBook will use a new operating system from QNX Software Systems, a company that is acquired by RIM from Harman International earlier this year, to answer the criticism that the operating system of RIM phone is outdated.

The three astronauts from the International Space Station landed safely in the central steppes of Kazakhstan on Saturday.

The Russian Soyuz capsule that is carrying three astronauts who stayed on the International Space Station for six months landed down to Earth safely, Saturday morning. The return of Russian astronauts’ Mikhail Kornienko and Alexander Skvortsov and American astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson was delayed because of technical problems in the space station. They had problems in the undocking of the spacecraft.

According to Rob Navias, NASA spokesman, in a web streamed report, the Soyuz spacecraft landed vertically in its planned location in Kazakhstan at 11:23 a.m. He said that the landing of the spacecraft was almost a bull’s eye because it landed in its precise landing spot.

A group of 12 Russian recovery helicopters went to the landing spot in Kazakhstan ahead of the landing schedule of the spacecraft. They took flight to an area southeast of the central Kazakh town Arkalyk to intercept the spacecraft, Saturday morning. The recovery workers immediately arrived at the spot and place a platform to the capsule.

Skvortsov was very happy to see that he is already in Earth. He held his fist in the air while the team is carrying him out of the capsule. The astronauts was immediately placed in reclining chairs so they can recover from the shift in gravitational pull after they spent almost 170 days in space.

Health workers and space officials of Russia crowded Skvortsov and handed him an apple, part of the tradition. American astronaut Caldwell-Dyson looked weary but joyous. She talked with his colleagues through a satellite phone after she is placed in a reclining chair and wrapped with a blanket.

The attempt to depart from the International Space Station was successful and exactly on schedule.