Elephants have a bad year, movie news and Adderall shortages

- Know who didn’t have a great year in 2011? Elephants, that’s who. With a record number of large seizures of ivory in 2011, pachyderms were on the losing end of a battle against poachers in the just-concluded year. There were at least 13 seizures of caches of ivory over 800 kg each, according to the conservation organization TRAFFIC, meaning elephants were big targets with a big payoff over the past 12 months. TRAFFIC is a joint program between the World Wildlife Fund and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. "A conservative estimate of the weight of ivory seized in the 13 largest seizures in 2011 puts the figure at more than 23 tons, a figure that probably represents some 2,500 elephants, possibly more," an official release from the group stated. Both the number of seizures and their combined weight represent major increases from 2010, when there were six large seizures with a total weight of just under 10 tons. "This is the worst year ever for large ivory seizures — 2011 has truly been a horrible year for elephants,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s elephant expert. "I fear the criminals are winning.” Milliken’s dire assessment rings true because many seizures of illegal ivory result in no arrests. Growing demand in Asia for ivory coupled with increased sophistication of the criminal gangs behind the trafficking make stopping the ivory trade all but impossible. The majority of illegal shipments of African elephant ivory originate in Kenyan or Tanzanian ports en route to China or Thailand. Along the way, the shipments frequently make a stop in Malaysia and in early December, Malaysian customs officials seized 1.4 tons of ivory concealed inside a shipping container being transported from Kenya to Cambodia. Officials in Kenya major another huge seizure on Dec. 21 when they discovered 727 ivory pieces inside a container in Mombasa, Kenya, and destined for Asia. So who wants to resolve not to senselessly kill elephants for their ivory this next year……….

- With two full weeks in theaters under its belt, “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” is still accomplishing its mission. For the second straight weekend the film led the pack at the box office, earning $31.3 million to boost its cumulative domestic earnings total to $134.1 million and counting. Also for the second straight weekend, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” finished in second place. “Sherlock Holmes” garnered $22.1 million and has earned a total of $132.1 million domestically in its own two-week run. “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” moved up one spot from last weekend with an $18.3 million effort to boost its cumulative total to $94.6 million. Stephen Spielberg’s much-praised family flick “War Horse” landed in fourth place with $16.9 million, good enough for a cumulative haul of $42.9 million after two weekends in theaters. It was another disappointing weekend in America for Sony’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” which debuted in third place last weekend and fell to fifth this time around with a so-so $16.3 million for a two-week total of $57.1 million in domestic earnings. The big-screen adaptation of Stig Larsson’s popular novel doesn’t seem to be catching on with American audiences. Of course, the same could be said for “We Bought a Zoo” and it even has the hotness of Scarlett Johansson and the skills of Matt Damon to count on. In spite of those assets, “Zoo” remained in sixth place for the second time in as many weekends, making $14.3 million and upping its total thus far to $41.7 million. Seventh place went to “The Adventures of Tintin” thanks to a $12 million weekend that boosted its two-week haul to $47.8 million. New Year’s Eve weekend wasn’t so kind to “New Year’s Eve” the movie, which brought in $6.7 million and mustered only an eighth-place finish. That was still enough to best Summit Entertainment’s “The Darkest Hour,” which made $4.3 million and has scored $13.3 million in two weekends of work. “The Descendants” jumped up to re-enter the top 10 on the strength of its $3.7 million weekend and has made an impressive $39.7 million in seven weeks of very limited release. “Arthur Christmas” was the lone movie to fall out of last weekend’s top 10 and did it ever fall, all the way down to No. 19 for this weekend…………

- If presiding over the worst defensive performance in University of Washington football history is reason to fire a defensive coordinator, then how is anyone supposed to live up to the program’s lofty standards? Just because UW defensive coordinator Nick Holt and two other defensive assistants were in charge of a defense that was the worst in school history statistically and finished the year off by allowing 67 points and 777 yards to Baylor in a 67-56 loss in the Alamo Bowl is no reason to fire them, right? It’s not as if Baylor went up and down the field at will and probably could have hit the 100-point barrier with a few more minutes of action, right? Right? The powers that be in the Washington athletic department just did not appreciate the hard work Holt put in and decided to fire him along with linebackers coach Mike Cox and safeties coach Jeff Mills on Saturday. How eager were they to be rid of Holt, Cox and Mills? The university confirmed all three had contracts for the 2012 season that will be honored and with Holt slated to make $650,000, the total amount paid to three coaches NOT to coach at Washington next year will surpass $750,000. In all fairness to the university, Holt probably should have delivered a better performance if he wanted to keep his job given the fact that he has been a frequent target of criticism since his arrival from Southern California before the 2009 season because of because of Washington's defensive decline and the large salary he commanded in making the move to UW with head coach Steve Sarkisian…………

- Americans with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, don’t expect getting medication to help with your problems to become any easier in the near future. Adderall, a stimulant commonly used to treat ADHD, is in short supply and isn't likely to become any more plentiful easing as manufacturers struggle to get enough active ingredient to make the drug as demand climbs. Because Adderall is a controlled substance, meaning it is addictive and has the potential to be abused, the squares at the Drug Enforcement Administration strictly regulate how much of the drug's active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) can be distributed to manufacturers each year. Theoretically, the DEA’s overbearing ways are meant to avoid the creation of stockpiles that could be diverted for inappropriate use. That’s right, black market Adderall, y’all. Overly paranoid bureaucratic and medical types believe the potential for abuse exists among groups like, in theory anyhow, with students who may not have ADHD but are seeking to improve their test scores. The active ingredient in Adderall is mixed amphetamine salts and the DEA authorizes a certain amount the salts to be released to drugmakers each year based on what the agency considers to be the country's legitimate medical need. Drug companies are chafing at that limit as the demand for Adderall surges to an all-time high. In 2010, more than 18 million prescriptions were written for Adderall, a whopping 13.4 percent increase from the previous year. Many orders for the dug are unfulfilled and manufacturers say it may take several months before ingredient authorized under the new 2012 quota can be turned into new product. "I am very concerned about the future," said Ruth Hughes, chief executive of Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyeractivity Disorder (CHADD). "No one seems to have much inventory to get us through the months ahead." You’re not the only one who is concerned, Ruth. Those who have difficulty staying focused, battle hyperactivity and experience difficulty controlling behavior because of their ADHD are concerned too because…..ooh look, a cloud shaped like a bunny rabbit! Wait, what were we talking about? Oh, that’s right. The FDA is being an overly restrictive bureaucratic mess of red tape that is preventing people in need from getting the medication they need. Even with authorized generic versions of Adderall on the market, there simply is not enough to go around. No one is exactly sure of the severity of the shortage, but research groups are continue to investigate. President Barack Obama recently issued an executive order demanding that the Food & Drug Administration address these shortages, but the DEA seems content to shirk blame for as long as possible. "Any shortage of these products is therefore a result of decisions made by the industry regarding manufacturing or distribution," said DEA spokeswoman Barbara Carreno. Whatever you say, Babs…………

- Wouldn’t it be logical to think that a state environmental protection agency would do routine checks of water purity and quality in areas close to landfills and trash dumps to ensure that all possible contaminants were kept out of the water supply? In Ohio, that just hasn’t been a priority until now. But big ups to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for being bold enough to propose proposed new rules that would require the state's licensed construction and demolition debris landfills to regularly test groundwater for an expanded number of contaminants. Under the new rules, two of the state's 55 licensed landfills - the County Road 286 landfill in Coshocton County and the Holmes County C&DD Landfill near Millersburg - would be affected. That’s right, a whopping two. Interested citizens in the greater Columbus area with nothing better to do on Tuesday can carve out some time to attend a public hearing on the new at the Ohio EPA offices in the capital city. Actually, the state of Ohio has been in this same spot before. Way back in 2005, a legislative study committee and the EPA proposed tougher regulations regarding the monitoring of water, also known as leachate, at the bottom of landfill sites. When whiny government officials complained the new regulations would be too expensive to comply with, the proposal was dropped. Hooray for bureaucratic red tape. That proposal would have allowed for 64 different toxic chemicals to be tested for, instead of the 19 required by the EPA. Maybe those whiny officials should have accepted the original proposal because the scope of the new one is even larger. It expands that number to 77 pollutants which could leach into groundwater supplies, including iron, sulfates, manganese and toxic adhesives. The EPA made the proposal following a study n the dangers leachate poses threat to public health and the environment if released to ground water or surface water, along with public comments received on the draft rules issued earlier this year. Glad you finally got around to it, EPA…………