Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Oct 15, 2018

choi

(1) Jen Skerritt, Prescription for Profit.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... e-the-real-money-is

Quote:

"Three years ago, Dr Lydia Hatcher had a straightforward answer when chronic-pain patients came into her clinic in Hamilton, Ont, asking for marijuana: no. Since then, whispers and research in the medical community about what the drug can do have sparked a change of heart. She's now prescribing pot and seeing the benefits in patients who have exhausted other options. One wheelchair-bound 97-year-old woman was able to get up and dance after receiving treatment for arthritis.

"All the focus this month is on Canada legalizing recreational use, but the real money could be made in medicine. More than 20 countries, including Germany, Mexico, and Australia, have approved the use of medical marijuana. Denmark and Luxembourg have taken steps to legalize the drug for medical use. The UK plans to allow prescriptions for cannabis-derived medicine by fall

"In June the US Food and Drug Administration approved GW Pharmaceuticals Plc's Epidiolex to treat two rare forms of childhood epilepsy. It was the first medical treatment derived from the marijuana plant to get the greenlight for sale in the US.

Note:
(a)
(i) summary underneath the title in print: The real money will be made in medical marihuana, not recreational
(ii) Print and the online version are identical.
(b) There is no need to read the rest.
(c).
(i) About quotation 1. There is nothing better than a clinical study with control.
(ii) Regarding quotation 3. See News release: FDA Approves First Drug Comprised of an Active Ingredient Derived from Marijuana to Treat Rare, Severe Forms of Epilepsy. FDA, June 25, 2018
https://www.fda.gov/newsevents/n ... ments/ucm611046.htm
("The US Food and Drug Administration today approved Epidiolex (cannabidiol) [CBD] oral solution for the treatment of seizures associated with two rare and severe forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, in patients two years of age and older. * * * CBD is a chemical component of the Cannabis sativa plant, more commonly known as marijuana. However, CBD does not cause intoxication or euphoria (the 'high') that comes from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).  It is THC (and not CBD) that is the primary psychoactive component of marijuana") (brackets original)

There is no need to read the rest of this news release.

choi

(3) Ross Kenneth Urken, Get Hooked on Hokkaido. (in the Pursuits section, for leisure).
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... ate-ski-destination

Note:
(a)
(i) summary underneath the title in print: Looking for the best conditions on Earth? Head to Japan's northern tip.
(ii) Mr Urken is a freelance writer.
(iii) online title: Hokkaido Is Taking Over as the World’s Ultimate Ski Destination; Head straight to the far north of Japan for the world's best powder
(iv) Print and the online version are one and the same.

(b) "Last December, Daniel Barotz, a 35-year-old financial adviser in Denver, was fed up with the paltry snowfall in Vail. * * * the total visitors to Hokkaido rose 17.8 percent, to 2.2 million, in 2017 from a year earlier, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. That's up from 808,000 five years ago. * * * Niseko, Hokkaido's most popular ski area, gets about 600 inches of snow a year—so-called Ja-pow, that coveted Japanese powder. Vail, on the other hand, averages 348 inches. Climate change has stripped some American mountains of 30 percent of their snowpack, cutting seasons in half, but Hokkaido is geographically situated to avoid this fate.  Here, the moisture coming off the Sea of Japan hits the cold winds from Siberia to create the perfect texture of ultradry, fluffy snow—one reason mountainous Japan has 279 ski resorts, second only to the U.S."
(i) Vail, Colorado
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vail,_Colorado
(town "Elevation 8,022 ft (2,445 m)" )
(ii) Niseko-chō, Abuta-gun, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido  北海道 後志総合振興局 虻田郡 ニセコ町

The en.wikipedia.org page is written poorly, so I will use information from the ja.wikipedia.org page:
Niseko-chō  (総人口 [year-round residents] 5,173人 (2018年3月31日); "地名の由来[:] * * * ニセコはアイヌ語の「ニセイ・コ・アン・ペツ」（峡谷にある川）に由来する * * * ニセコ連峰"

Translation of the quotation: The town name is from Ainu language "niseko ko an betsu" meaning "a river in the valley." The river is in the Niseko (mountain) range ニセコ連峰 whose length 延長 is 25km and highest peak 延長.

(c) "The $200-per-night Skye Niseko, one of the first luxury offerings there in decades, will open in December. The hotel occupies a curvilinear building designed by Australian firm Architectus"
(i) curvilinear (adj): " * * * curved lines * * *"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curvilinear
(ii) The top photo is a bird's-eye view of Skye Niseko:
https://www.experienceniseko.com ... early-bird-deals-on

(d) There is no need to read the rest.

choi

(2) The following two articles are part of a one-off section "The Future of Money."
(a) Bloomberg news, 3 Million Chinese Bank Tellers vs WeChat.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... illion-bank-tellers

Quote:

"The nation [China] is home to the world’s biggest mobile payments market, which handled $17 trillion in transactions last year. * * *

"the country's first fully automated branch, which opened this summer in Shanghai.  Customers gain entry with facial and voice recognition scans and are greeted by two teller-bots. In addition to normal banking services, the 'intelligent teller machines' (ITMs) [as opposed to automated teller machine (ATM)] at the China Construction Bank Corp branch offer online shopping and utility-bill payment services. There’s even a virtual-reality showroom, where visitors don headsets to explore potential apartment rentals.

"China's top four state-owned banks * * * employ 1.6 million people. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd alone has about 500,000 on its payroll, more than the workforces of JPMorgan Chase & Co and HSBC Holdings Plc combined. * * * The trend lines don't look great for traditional banks. More than 87 percent of banking transactions in China were completed online or on phones, vs 45 percent in 2010. Annual compensation of about 100,000 yuan ($14,630) for an experienced teller in a major city is on par with the purchase price of a high-end ITM, according to the official People's Daily. And an ITM runs 24/7 and rarely makes a mistake.

Note:
(i) summary underneath the title in print: In the land of cutting-edge fintech, employees of giant government banks race against obsolescence
(ii) Print and the online version are identical.
(b) Saritha Rai and Anto Antony, Banning Rupees Didn't Work. This Might.

Note:
(i) summary underneath the title in print: The technological nudge that's making mobile payment easier and could bring more Indians into the financial system
(ii) There is no need to read text.