Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Jan 7, 2019

choi

(1) Anna Edney, The App Will See You Now.

Quote (print):

"US health officials expect to propose in the first half of 2019 a plan that would limit the need for a potentially millions of people to interact with a doctor and instead allows them to use their phone to determine their need for, say, Pfizer Inc's cholesterol-fighting Lipitor -- and then five them a code or ticket to pick it up on their pharmacy's shelf, next to the aspirin and cough syrup.  Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb sees smartphones and technologies such as in-store video kiosks as a way to enable the switch from prescription-only to over-the-counter sales for more drugs. This could give consumers easier access to crucial medicinations an be a boost for branded pharmaceutical companies that might otherwise lose revenue to low-cost generic competition [Why? Not explained]

"Enter Smartphone apps, which FDA officials believe could be more effective than printed materials in helping consumers determine if they need a drug.

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Trump's FDA considers letting mobile devices prescribe drugs for some chronic ailments
(b) There is no need to read the rest.

choi

(3) Fabiana Batista, Sara Clemens, Niki Ekstein, Julia Eskins, Jonathan Gilbert, Sarah Khan, Jen Murphy, Chadner Navarro, Helen Nyambura-Mwaura, Brandon Presser, Michael Sin, Lindsey Tramuta and Gisela Williams, It's All About Asia; Much of Asia is best experienced from December to February -- when you minimize the risj of typhoons, monsoons, or extreme heat.
(three destinations: [sectional headings:] See a New Side of Hong Kong: "the debut of JC Contemporary [賽馬會藝方] art gallery and JC Cube [賽馬會立方; both are cubes (of different sizes), both in 大館] theater last summer [in 2018]
Pamper Yourself in Vietnam
Tail a Tiger in Magical Madhya Pradesh: India is making great strides in conservation. The subcontinent is home to the largest population of wild tigers, whose worldwide number dipped to just 1,400 in 2006. But with new reserves and better education, those numbers are expected to top 3,000 when the next Bengal census is released later this month. For travelers, that means sightings have gone from being unreliable to almost guaranteed -- particularly in Madhya Pradesh. Not only does the state have more protected parks than neighboring Rajasthan, but it's also less crowded"_

Note:
(a) "Tail a Tiger" is unique in the Web, Google search indicates.

tail (vt): "to follow for purposes of surveillance"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tail
(b) Madhya Pradesh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhya_Pradesh
("meaning 'Central Province')" )

The English name is borrowed from Hindi, which in this instance is identical to Sanskrit.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Madhya_Pradesh

choi

(2) Neil Weinberg, Polly Mosendz, and Bill Allison with Paul M Barrett, Olivia Carville, Alexander Sazonov, Rachel Gamarski and Maria Luiza Rabello, The International Rifle Association.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/f ... -its-pro-gun-agenda

the first four paragraphs

"When it comes to guns, Brazil and the US have a few things in common. They rank first [gun deaths in 2016 per AMA: Brazil 43.2k; total population that year 207.7m] and second [same: US 37.2k; total population that year: 323.4m], respectively, in the number of citizens shot to death each year among the 195 countries that the American Medical Association tracks. The political dialogue in each country is dominated by a charismatic leader who says the answer to rampant violence is fewer gun laws and more guns. And both of those leaders—newly sworn-in President Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and US President Donald Trump—are big fans of America's National Rifle Association.

"Bolsonaro made gun rights one of the main planks in his campaign platform, liberally salting his speeches with NRA talking points: 'Guns are our guarantee of freedom,' he said during an event in the southern city of Curitiba last March. 'The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,' his son Carlos posted on Facebook.

"His victory shows that a core NRA principle—that armed citizens are safe citizens—is gaining political and popular traction far beyond America's shores. Founded 148 years ago in New York by two Union Army vets to promote marksmanship, the group describes itself as the 'oldest civil rights organization in America.' Its public events and messaging are often draped in the Stars and Stripes. Yet for all the patriotic symbolism, many of the forces shaping the NRA these days are distinctly non-American.

"Gun control advocates have long said the NRA is more concerned with the needs of gunmakers than those of gun owners. (The NRA didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.) Lately, foreign backers—and foreign markets—have become much more important to the NRA. Imports have accounted for almost 1 in 3 US gun sales in recent years, up from 1 in 5 less than two decades ago. Many foreign and multinational gun companies have opened manufacturing facilities in the US, taking advantage of the lucrative civilian market and relatively lax regulation, making them natural allies with the NRA.

"US gunmakers, in turn, have set their sights abroad. Exports of handguns, rifles, and shotguns for civilian use rose 64 percent in the six years through 2016, to 369,000 units, data compiled by Small Arms Analytics show.

Note:
(a)
(i) summary underneath the title in print: America's No 1 gun group is a jet-setter
(ii) Online title: NRA Goes International in Its Mission to Defend Guns; The American lobby forges ties in Australia, Brazil, and Russia.
(iii) Print and the online version are one and the same.
(iv) There is no need to read the rest. Do view graphics, though.
(b) The second graphic (heading: The World in Guns)

I examined the graphic for 3 minutes and finally understood it. In the top row (which is horizontal, in contrast with the vertical column), there are only two countries: Brazil and Austria. The latter is labeled with "Austria, home to Glock, is the largest exporter of guns to the US." That suggests Brazil is the second largest. Then you see China in the second row, and Taiwan in the fourth row. That signifies Taiwan exports some, but not as many guns to US. (I am talking about the graphic in PRINT; the online version misses two on the extremely left margin: Taiwan (right on the vertical line passing through "0 guns per 100 civilians") and Japan slightly to right (denoting Japanese civilians possess few, but not zero, guns),

The guesswork all bear out in
Polly Mosendz, Paul Barrett and Mira Rojanasakul, How Foreign Guns Invaded the US. Bloomberg, Nov 28, 2018.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-us-gun-imports/

The caption of the graphic said, "Firearms imports into the US in 2017 (ATF)."  ATF stands for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- co-equal with Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and both Bureaus are directly under US Department of Justice.