Staying Real in Israel
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Cancer is a bear…
Chemo may save your life, but it is definitely no fun, and the complications can be horrible, not to mention life-threatening…

I am speaking from first-hand experience, here, winning my 6-year-long battle (so far, Thank G-d) with Stage 4 colon cancer, with the Grace of G-d and the wonders of Israeli medical treatment…

It truly is a situation where one can survive the disease, but be killed by the treatment…

So, thank you, again, Israeli medicine… (and you evil drug companies…)

Teva reports positive Phase III blood disease trial results

Teva obtained lipegfilgrastim through its acquisition of Germany’s Ratiopharm.

Reprinted from Globes.co.il

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) reported positive results in its Phase III clinical trial of lipegfilgrastim for the treatment of severe neutropenia, a blood disorder. Teva obtained lipegfilgrastim through its acquisition of Germany’s Ratiopharm. It is comparable to Neulasta, made by Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq: AMGN).

The Phase III trial was conducted on 200 breast cancer patients receiving four cycles of chemotherapy who received either lipegfilgrastim or Neulasta. The trial met the primary endpoint of reducing the duration of severe neutropenia.

Neutropenia is a blood disorder in which the number of white blood cells falls, causing increased susceptibility to bacterial infections. It can be either congenital or the result of a viral infection or side effect of a drug, including chemotherapy, or exposure to certain poisons.

Neulasta has annual worldwide sales of $3.56 billion.

Teva VP global branded products Prof. Yitzhak Peterburg said, “Teva is committed to the development of biologics and biosimilars, which make up one of the fastest growing segments of the global pharmaceutical market and offer efficacious yet more affordable treatment to all patients.”

Teva’s share price rose 1.1% on the TASE today to NIS 170, but fell 0.2% in early trading on Nasdaq to $50.12, giving a market cap of $44.7 billion.

The pride of Israel’s economy, Bank of Israel Head, Stanley Fischer, certainly would be a fantastic pick to head the International Monetary Fund…but we need him here, in Israel!!!

Stanley Fischer

Maybe the world will recognize Fischer’s value and allow him to work part-time, while maintaining his important role in Israel…

But, probably not…

Israel’s Fischer perfect IMF head, supporters say

Israeli central bank chief Stanley Fischer, who has announced his candidacy for the post of IMF director general, is credited with having steered an economic “miracle” in Israel despite the global downturn.

Reprinted from AFP

JERUSALEM — Israeli central bank chief Stanley Fischer, who has announced his candidacy for the post of IMF director general, is credited with having steered an economic “miracle” in Israel despite the global downturn.

Fischer announced on Saturday evening that he was seeking the top post at the International Monetary Fund, to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn who has resigned after being accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York.

His candidacy, the subject of much speculation in Israel in recent weeks, shakes up the race for the key post, which is normally held by a European.

His main rivals for the moment are French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, the presumed frontrunner, and Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens, who is angling to become the first non-European head of the fund.

Despite media speculation, Fischer had been coy over seeking the post, telling Israeli public radio this week: “One must never accept a position that no one has offered you.”

But his potential candidacy has won favour among many, with commentators in leading financial publications including the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and Euromoney magazine all expressing support.

Fischer has been credited for keeping Israel’s economy growing even as the global downturn ravaged other nations.

Reappointed in March for a second five-year term at the head of Israel’s central bank, Fischer can boast a 5.0% growth rate projected for the Jewish state this year and foreign reserves of $77.4 billion.

He has strongly championed bolstering foreign reserves to rein in the strength of the shekel and boost Israeli exports.

His tenure has made him both trusted and popular in Israel, with the economic newspaper, The Marker, running an article under the headline: “Please don’t go.”

Born in October 15, 1943 in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, Fischer studied in both Britain and the United States, where he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, before taking US citizenship.

In January 2005, he became Israeli under the Law of Return, which allows Jews to obtain citizenship when they emigrate to the Jewish state.

Under Israeli law, its senior officials are not allowed to hold a second nationality, which would have required Fischer to renounce his US passport. But Israel offered to make an exception to bring him on at the central bank.

“Stanley Fischer was authorised to keep his US citizenship as a special privilege when he took on the job of central bank governor,” bank spokesman Yossi Saadon told AFP on Sunday.

But his US citizenship could be an obstacle to his candidacy at the IMF, where tradition dictates that the top post is reserved for a European, with an American at the helm of the World Bank.

At 67, his age is another handicap, as IMF rules usually cap applications for the top job at 65.

But Fischer does come with experience at the world’s top financial institutions.

Between 1988 and 1990, he was a vice president and chief economist at the World Bank, and between 1994 and 2001, he served as a deputy managing director at the IMF.

He has also spent time in the private sector, serving as vice chairman of Citigroup and president of Citigroup International between 2002 and 2005.

His time at the head of Israel’s central bank has won him supporters at home and overseas, with Euromoney magazine naming him their central bank governor of the year for 2010.

The magazine praised Fischer for his “bold move” to raise interest rates in September 2009, making Israel the first country to do so, saying his decision “proved well-guided and prescient.”

If any of you are still deluding yourselves that the “flotillas” coming with the “humanitarian” mission to break Israel’s blockade of the terrorists in Gaza have anything whatsoever to do with peace…

Please, think again…

Death threats against an Israeli musician by the organizers of the latest flotilla?
Can this have ANYTHING whatsoever to do with peace?
Can anybody involved with these violent assaults on international law and Israel’s sovereignty truly call themselves a “peace activist”?

Yuval Ron

I don’t think so…

Israeli musician cancels Istanbul concert

Death threats, allegedly from flotilla-organizing IHH, lead Yuval Ron to cancel performance in Turkey.

Reprinted from jpost.com

Death threats, allegedly from the Turkish NGO that helped organize the 2010 Gaza protest flotilla, led to the cancellation of a concert in Istanbul by Oscar-winning Israeli musician Yuval Ron, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Friday.

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has denied making the threats, but confirmed that it did oppose the holding of the concert.

Ron, the leader of a musical ensemble that includes Muslim, Jewish and Christian artists, told Hurriyet on Friday, “I am very sorry, I had to cancel the concert because of the safety of my team members.

The cancellation of the concert will harm Turkey’s image in the world. But I want to return to Turkey and realize this concert [in the future],” said Ron, who won the 2007 Academy Award for Short Film for writing the music for West Bank Story.

The concert, which was scheduled for Thursday night in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet neighborhood, was canceled it because of threats from IHH, Hurriyet reported.