|
CORRUPTION UPDATES 92 July 14 to 17, 2007 The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story. |
CORRUPTION UPDATES 92
Previous Corruption Updates: Page 91
Next Corruption Updates: Page 93
Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org
1) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Russia sends warning to the West
By Jonathan Marcus
BBC diplomatic correspondent
Story from BBC NEWS:
7-14-07
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6898897.stm
President Vladimir Putin's decision to suspend Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe, or CFE, treaty is a potent political signal.
It is yet another sign of the worsening relationship between Moscow and the West.
It shows that this relationship was not improved in any substantial way by the informal meeting at the start of this month between the US and Russian presidents at the Bush family's holiday home at Kennebunkport in Maine.
It is another diplomatic warning shot from Mr Putin across the bows of the Bush administration.
And with crucial issues like Iran's nuclear programme and the political future of Kosovo looming at the United Nations, it raises a new set of questions about how far Russia might go to block initiatives backed by Washington and its key allies.
The United States pulled out of another key agreement, the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, in December 2001.
In a sense Mr Putin is just demonstrating that what the Americans can do in the name of their vital interests, so Russia can also threaten in the name of its national interest.
President Putin's move will be taken as yet another sign of a more assertive foreign policy - a policy buoyed up by Moscow's rising income from oil and natural gas.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
American Military Empire Draws Russian Response
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 22, 2007
Commentary follows the next abstract.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 1st article on the Page, "Russia prepares to revise military doctrine in response to USA's missile defense plans"
Corruption Updates 64, 8th article on the page, "Russia, Putin: US imperialists start new round of arms race"
Corruption Updates 66, 2nd article on the page, "Putin warns Europe in missile row: Will target Euro Cities"
Search the Corruption Database under
Russia (20 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
British to Expel 4 Russian Diplomats
By SARAH LYALL
NYT, July 17, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/world/europe/17spy.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
LONDON, July 16 — Britain’s relations with Russia deteriorated further Monday when the government announced that it would expel four Russian diplomats in retaliation for Russia’s refusal to extradite the key suspect in the murder of Alexander V. Litvinenko, a former K.G.B. agent and outspoken critic of the Kremlin.
Announcing the decision in the House of Commons, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, also said Britain would tighten visa requirements for Russian officials and businesspeople, suspend talks meant to provide easier access to British visas for ordinary Russians and review “the extent of our cooperation with Russia on a range of issues.”
Russia responded with swift displeasure. Mikhail Kamynin, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said that “London has to clearly understand that provocative actions conceived by the British authorities will not go unanswered, and cannot but entail the most serious consequences for British-Russian relations as a whole.”
Mr. Kamynin went on to point out that the British government had refused to extradite two Russian expatriates wanted by the Kremlin: Boris A. Berezovsky, a self-exiled tycoon, and Akhmed Zakayev, a Chechen separatist. “Given this background,” Mr. Kamynin said, “it seems to us that London’s position is immoral.”
As far as British-Russian relations, “we are perhaps looking at one of the worst situations since the 1970s,” said James Nixey, manager of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, a foreign policy research organization.
Britain says other countries have amended their constitutions to provide for extradition, and it has turned down Moscow’s offer to hold Mr. Lugovoi’s trial in Russia.
The move also reflects the difficulties that Britons face in Moscow. The British ambassador has been repeatedly harassed by gangs of thugs, and the offices of several private-sector companies have been raided.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
The following was drafted on March 12, 2007, for Corruption Update 39_8:
The Blame Game has begun. Russia is rising again, and it's pissed. And this article is already trying to blame someone for “losing Russia.”
This article misses the whole point, by figuring the goal, the ideal outcome for Russia, is to enter some kind of global Corporate eden, where Russia becomes a Corporate State, just like us, and does just what we demand of them.
Just like Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and Iraq have done.
This article, and our Corporate Political Elite, fails to realize that the Russians are not buying our line that we represent freedom or democracy. Our Corporate Elite has missed the most important contributing factor to “losing” Russia: The Loss of American Democracy and the popular global credibility that accompanied the illusion.
Russia, like China and India, have limited options for entering the American dominated world economy, if we get our way.
First, to be our “friends,” they must develop corporate dominated governments. This has not been achieved in any of these nations, and, considering their divergent histories and cultures, American-Style corporate democracy may not be possible or desirable.
If emerging 3rd world countries are able to escape Global Corporate domination, their options will be severely limited. Iran and Cuba offer excellent examples.
Our typical pattern is to exert political, economic and military pressure to bring about a military or elite coup, followed by a dictatorship. Our goal is to put the world's resources on the world market, nation by nation, under our corporations' control.
Eventually our dictatorships will moderate into corporate fascist dominated “democracies,” as has happened in the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Formosa, and Indonesia, among others. Each of these countries has transitioned from American-sponsored dictatorships to corporate dominated states. (The Philippines is a bit sloppy, but give them credit for trying.)
Make no mistake about it: Our allies are not free democratic countries. Like in the United States, their parties, politicians and governments are dominated by their nations' most powerful corporate special interests, not their people. In none of these countries does political power flow upward, from the people to the government, through the politicians.
This is a shame, as each of these countries have histories, cultures, values, and political and social principals that are not well served by their Corporate Governments. Rather than tell other countries what to do, we should restrict ourselves to living up to our often-stated values of democracy and freedom.
Our corporations are the greatest roadblock to the establishment of democracy here in the United States, and around the world. When nations dare to take a different political path, such as having elections that don't represent or elect corporate interests, or if they form a government that serves any purpose other than focusing wealth and power under corporate control, they are brutally attacked on all fronts. We have repeatedly demonstrated that we will crush popular democracies that do not serve our needs, and impose dictators on them who will.
Any democracy that reflects local values, and puts locals in control of their own resources, is completely unacceptable to our currently illegitimate corporate government.
Those nations that do not obey will feel the many forms of our wrath. These countries will be tortured economically, politically, and be plagued with death squads, or “Contras,” or they will find that they have a Pinochet in their army.
If worse comes to worse, we will bribe a proxy to attack the offending country, as we did when we encouraged Saddam to attack Iran, and just recently, when we paid Ethiopia to attack Somalia.
Russia is struggling to find its own identity while we are struggling for world domination. Our bad behavior is conditioning Russia's developing identity, and laying out the nature of its relations with America as it struggles to developed a new identity.
It is not only Russia's emerging identity that is being corrupted by American military, political, and economic aggressions. The whole world is emerging from the long night of western colonial domination, and its American Corporate Bastard Step child, "Globalism."
Expect Russian opportunities to resist our influence to increase as the deterioration of our control over the middle east slips through our bloody fingers.
If I was Russia, I'd be starting a conversation with the whole developing world about their options for escaping American domination. You know, the conversation that China has been having with emerging nations for the last few years.
A new world balance of power is emerging in response and resistance to decades of American political, economic, and military abuses. Watch out, because our politicians and corporations have engendered the hatred of billions of people around the world. The very same people who sit on top of the majority of the world's resources, under the thumbs of our dictators.
Russia may offer to help them exchange their American Dictators for freedom. Or at least for the harness of their own tyrants, rather than ours.
Who would have thought that possible just a few short years ago?
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 1st article on the page, "Russia prepares to revise military doctrine in response to USA's missile defense plans"
Corruption Updates 39, 8th article on the page, "Who's to Blame for Russia?"
Corruption Updates 53, 10th article on the page, "Russia to Suspend Compliance With Key European Pact"
Corruption Updates 59, 4th article on the page, "Leading Russian Official Dismisses U.S. Treaty and Missile Shield"
Corruption Updates 64, 8th article on the page, "Russia, Putin: US imperialists start new round of arms race"
Corruption Updates 66, 2nd article on the page, "Putin warns Europe in missile row"
Corruption Updates 66, 3rd article on the page, "Gorbachev criticizes US 'empire'"
Search the Corruption Database under
Russia (20 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
3) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Term limit measure lures health care donors
Officials deny there's a link of gaining lobbyist access by giving to top lawmakers' cause.
By Shane Goldmacher - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDTMonday, July 16, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/111/v-print/story/274649.html
Health-related organizations this year have contributed at least $500,000 to a ballot campaign to ease term limits that would benefit top lawmakers leading the health care overhaul under consideration at the Capitol.
Hospitals, drug companies, doctors, dentists and others with a stake in the health care debate have put up about a fifth of the roughly $2.6 million collected by those advocating a change in the 1990 term limits law. The measure, if passed by voters Feb. 5, would lower from 14 to 12 the total number of years a lawmaker could serve, but also would allow Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata to remain in their leadership posts for up to six and four years, respectively, beyond 2008.
One donor said his organization gave to guarantee access to the top players in the health care debate.
"The whole system of campaign fundraising is such that you have a (political action committee) because you want to get access to people," said Gary Robinson, the executive director of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, which gave $5,000 to the term limits measure in late June.
"I think everybody's contribution relates to the ability to go to the fundraisers and meet the staff and the members," Robinson said.
The hospital association's PAC gave $100,000 in May, two weeks before both Perata and Núñez rolled out their health plans.
Unlike Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan, neither Democrat included an assessment on hospitals. (The hospitals also gave the governor's political fund $100,000.)
Still, Robert Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, said the large donations are a way for industry to gain "unfair access."
"These people are afraid not to give," Stern said. "If they don't (give), they might have a place at the table, but they might not be listened to."
By far the biggest donors to the term limits campaign have been unions.
The Service Employees International Union Local 1000 gave $150,000. The California State Council of Service Employees gave $200,000. And the teachers association chipped in $250,000. Unionized health care workers have given thousands more.
. Under Schwarzenegger's plan, the state would help those unable to pay by assessing doctors 2 percent and hospitals 4 percent of their revenue, while making employers pay a 4 percent payroll fee.
Legislative Democrats, led by Núñez, D-Los Angeles, and Perata, D-Oakland, have countered with a plan to insure many -- but not all -- of the state's uninsured through a 7.5 percent payroll fee on employers.
Keith Richman, a doctor and former GOP assemblyman, calls the influx of health-related money in the term limits campaign "part and parcel of the fundamental corruption of our representative democracy."
"There is absolutely no nexus of the term limits measure to the debate that's going on in health care," said Richman, "except for political expediency."
Several of the donors, including the Union of American Physicians and Dentists and the California Association of Physician Groups, gave despite not supporting the term limits measure.
Tim Hart of the California Optometric Association said the organization's political committee contributed $25,000 to the term limits cause despite not endorsing it "because the speaker (of the Assembly) invited us to."Legislative Democrats aren't the only ones raising health industry money.
Schwarzenegger has raised nearly $300,000 from health stakeholders in his campaign accounts. In addition, health industry donors gave the governor at least $300,000 to pay for his inaugural celebration.
In a fundraising invitation sent out earlier this year, Schwarzenegger outlined exactly the access big donors would get.
Those who gave his chief political fund more than $25,000, for instance, were entitled to attend four meetings of the governor's "advisory council," to listen in on "regular conference calls" with Schwarzenegger and to sip cocktails at an April reception at his Brentwood home.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Nunez and Perata Collecting Bribes to maintain Monopoly of Corporate Corruption in Sacramento
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 22, 2007
This is how it works in Sacramento. The people passed Term Limits to curb Willie Brown's Endless Empire of Corruption. Term limits is rather crude device, but it has been very effective at curbing the development of legislative empires like Willie's. Up to now.
Now, another generation of politicians spawned by the same political mafia that spawned Willie is trying to reestablish the borders of its old empire; Monopolized districts with terms that reflect the power and ego of the party and its leaders: Big.
The Dems and Repugs have a complete monopoly of politics in California, independent of redistricting, or term limits.
The parties maintain within themselves more than enough legislative experience to transfer between generations of legislators. The typical devices for maintaining legislative experience between term-limited generations of legislators are the legions of party-loyal staffers, and strong central party organizations, which both parties have in spades. So there must be another reason, rather than "experience" for Nunez and Perata to target term limits.
It is the desire for the power of perpetual office and the attendant perks and vanities of personal power, the Willie Syndrome, that are the real reasons behind Perata and Nunez's desire to remodel term limits. We must maintain Term Limits to restrict the personal power and egos of our corrupted legislators.
But I would be against term limits the second after we rid our democracy of the special interest bribes that keep Nunez, Perata, and the rest of their corrupted crew in office.
Let them get elected by the money and support of their local voters, rather than the millions of dollars in bribes that the special interests flood them with, and I would let them stay in office until they died. Just like they did before Term Limits.
But Perata and Nunez did not get elected by a free vote of the people. Perata and Nunez obtained and maintain their offices by collecting and redistributing millions of dollars of special interest bribes throughout the Senate and Assembly.
Until we replace the special-interest driven democracy we currently suffer under, with a voter-based democracy, we are wise to limit the time these bribed professional politicians can stay in office.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 23, 10th article on the page, "ASSEMBLY TRIES TO TRADE CORRUPTION REFORM FOR MORE CORRUPTION IN A DEAL BETWEEN POLITICAL DEVILS"
Corruption Updates 35, 4th article on the page, "NUNEZ-ARNIE REDISTRICTING STALLED BY CONGRESS"
Corruption Updates 56, 9th article on the page, "Dems: Leaders split over plans to redistrict"
Search the Corruption Database under
Perata (16 Abstracts)
Nunez (10 Abstracts)
Term Limits (4 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
4) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Beijing’s Lack of Penalties in Labor Cases Stirs Outrage
NYT, July 17, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/world/asia/17china.html?pagewanted=print
SHANGHAI, July 16 — China’s efforts to bring a quick end to an embarrassing labor scandal over slavelike conditions for hundreds of workers at brick kilns in Shanxi Province has provoked anger among victims and widespread criticism.
The provincial government said Monday that dozens of officials were being punished in the scandal, but that only six low-level figures in the Communist Party or the local government would be prosecuted. The punishments ranged from demotions and firings to expulsion from the party or administrative warnings.
“Other than the direct responsibility of the owners, the ‘black brick kilns’ incident happened mainly because of lax supervision and dereliction of duty of grass-roots party and government officials,” Yang Senlin, a senior provincial Communist Party disciplinary official, told the Xinhua news agency.
Contradicting the accounts of many people who were freed from the kilns, including numerous children, Mr. Yang said there was no evidence of collusion or corruption among local officials.
Chinese journalists say government propaganda officials have urged the news media to limit coverage of the scandal. But the announcements on Monday brought a torrent of strongly critical commentary on the Internet, with thousands of bloggers and participants in news discussion groups denouncing what were widely perceived as light punishments and questioning the failure to pursue criminal charges or corruption accusations in more cases.
A Beijing lawyer who is not directly involved in the matter voiced disbelief about the small number of criminal prosecutions. “Look how many places and how many people were involved in this,” said the lawyer, Li Fangping, whose specialty is civil rights law. “Without the protection of more officials, this would be impossible.”
The brick kiln slavery conditions were revealed in May in an investigative report by Fu Zhenzhong, a Henan Province television reporter.
Many people were also shocked by reports that parents searching for missing children were turned away from the kilns by the Shanxi police and that others were warned not to try to help children who were not theirs. In at least one case, the police are said to have seized a worker who had been freed and sold him to another brick factory.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Chinese Government Covers up Party Participation in Slavery
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 22, 2007
It sounds like China has its own Alberto Gonzales in Charge of their Justice Department. The Chinese Commie Alberto says something like this: The Party is Never Wrong. Here, our Alberto says The President is Above The Law.
In China, they have brick kilns where people disappear. Bush has Gitmo, and its secret sisters.
In China, they have lax prosecutions of party officials. Bush has Alberto and the Captive US Attorneys. And if that fails, Clemency.
In China, they monitor the internet. Bush has the NSA.
In China, they abuse migrants. Bush has Crimigrants.
In China, everything is a state secret. Everything Bush does is a secret.
China actually has one small advantage: they rule by group decision, while Bush rules by his word alone.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 41, 9th article on the Page, "China jails editor for subversion"
Corruption Updates 59, 7th article on page, "Chinese Police Arrest 28 in Riots Against Family Planning Laws"
Search the Corruption Database under
China (40 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
5) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Tree Stands, Toddler Shoes Are Recalled
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
(07-17) 13:27 PDT , (AP) –
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/17/national/w132702D65.DTL
The following recalls have been announced:
_ About 9,000 Ol' Man tree stands, manufactured in China and imported and distributed by TSR Inc., because the locking pins can come out and put a person in the stand at risk of falling. The recall includes about 500 Ol' Man replacement pin sets that were sold separately. The company has received five reports of pins coming out of tree stands, including four reports of injuries. Details: by phone at 888-656-2606; by Web at
or .
_ About 270,000 clogs for toddlers, manufactured in China by Payless ShoeSource Inc., because the plastic rivets attaching the strap to the shoe can detach and pose a choking hazard. No injuries have been reported. This expands a May recall of 690,000 shoes. Details: by phone at 800-654-0697; by Web at
or .
_ About 4,400 Xenon aluminum flashlights, distributed by Sportsman's Warehouse and manufactured in China, because the batteries packaged with the flashlights have been determined by Panasonic to be counterfeit. The counterfeit batteries, labeled as "Panasonic CR123A Industrial Lithium," can overheat and rupture, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. Sportsman's Warehouse has received two reports of batteries and flashlights overheating and igniting, resulting in one reported injury of burns to the hands. Details: by phone at 877-678-0010; by Web at
or .
_ About 55,000 combination tire inflator and hand pumps, imported by Innovations in Cycling Inc., doing business as Genuine Innovations, because the device can shatter under pressure when inflating tires if there is a blockage in the tire valve. Innovations in Cycling Inc. has received 12 reports of combination tire inflator and hand pumps exploding, including six reported injuries such as lacerations, temporary ringing in ear and bruising. The recalled product, manufactured in the United States and Taiwan, includes the Genuine Innovations Second Wind MTB model with part numbers 2525, 2525-O or 3519 and the Wrench Force Two Shot model with part numbers 84995 or 80383 combination tire inflator and hand pumps. Details: by phone at 800-340-1050; by Web at
or .
_ About 220 Sleeping Beauty crown and Cinderella star earring sets, manufactured in China by Uncas Manufacturing Co., because the recalled metal earring sets contain high levels of lead, which is toxic if ingested by young children. No incidents or injuries have been reported. The Sleeping Beauty Crown set contains two pairs of earrings, including one shaped as pink crowns and the other pair shaped as the Sleeping Beauty character. The Cinderella Star Earring set contains two pairs of earrings, including one shaped as blue stars and the other shaped as the Cinderella character. The products were sold at Wal-Mart stores in Florida from February to June 2007. Details: by phone at 800-776-0980; by Web at .
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Globalism and Deregulation Killing Health, Safety, Wages:
Irresponsibility Made Profitable by American Trade Policies
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July 22, 2007
AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA
Our “policy” of “opening,” and integrating China into modernity, has been based on the unlimited transfer of industry (our jobs) to a country where the people have no rights, no environmental laws, and a closed economic and political system. It's a corporate dream, a corporate Disneyland, that the Democrats and Republicans are trying to replicate here.
The consequences of allowing our greedy corporations to move to China are profound. Our corporations have avoided the added expenses of American pollution control, labor regulations, and paying the taxes necessary to educate, medicate, and retire our workforce.
Not that our corporations have had to act responsibly here. They have cheated the American people every chance they get. But by using China they have been able to radically increase profits by abandoning all social, political, economic, and environmental responsibilities.
Today, the industrial pollution that China is producing would have been eliminated by manufacturing our products here, under our weak environmental regulations. The Chinese pollution is the cost of American greed and irresponsibility, and it is our filth that pouring into the atmosphere from Chinese smokestacks.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 36, 6th article on the page, "AMERICAN GREED-CONSUMPTION FUELS MANUFACTURING (POLLUTION) IN CHINA"
Corruption Updates 60 , 8th article on the Page, "China: Recall Is Issued for Frozen Fish"
Corruption Updates 67, 5th article on the Page, "China: When Fakery Turns Fatal"
Corruption Updates 77, 5th article on the Page, "Thomas the Tank Engine Toys Recalled Because of Lead Paint"
Corruption Updates 79, 2th article on the Page, "As More Toys Are Recalled, Trail Ends in China"
Search the Corruption Database under
China (40 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
6) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Congress: FDA Lab Closure Plan Too Risky
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
(07-17) 12:03 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/17/national/w083637D89.DTL
Importers have learned to evade close federal scrutiny of the food they ship into the United States, putting consumers at increasing risk, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
Lawmakers also criticized the Food and Drug Administration's plan to close half of its laboratories. They called that idea misguided and questioned whether it would save money and enhance the agency's ability to target unsafe food, as FDA commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach said it would.
"FDA's ill-conceived decision to close seven of its 13 laboratories likely would expose American consumers to even more danger from unsafe foods, particularly imports," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., at a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce subcommittee on the FDA and food safety.
The FDA's ability to police the nation's food supply has come under withering criticism from Congress and others amid a string of high-profile cases of foodborne illness, including E. coli-tainted spinach and salmonella-contaminated peanut butter and snack foods, as well as concerns about drug-laced, farmed fish imported from China.An Energy and Commerce Committee investigation found the FDA now has little ability to police imports. In San Francisco, for example, the FDA's staff can conduct only a cursory review of imports, generally dedicating just 30 seconds to each shipment as it flashes by on a computer screen, according to investigators.
Even when products are flagged by the FDA, importers have learned to game the system, investigators said. For example, the FDA relies on results obtained from private labs before clearing and releasing suspect imports, including Chinese farmed seafood. But those labs produce results driven by financial rather than scientific concerns, investigators told the subcommittee.
Investigative counsel Kevin Barstow said he was told by an unnamed FDA deputy lab director that "none of the test results he's seen are completely accurate."
"The words he used were 'not good' and 'spooky,'" Barstow told the subcommittee.
Importers also can reduce the level of scrutiny by having their products test negative five consecutive times, according to a summary of the investigators' findings. Since some large fish, including tuna, can be flagged for high mercury levels, importers will arrange to have five lots of smaller fish — generally younger and with comparatively less mercury — tested to obtain an all-clear from the FDA, according to the findings. Once the monitoring decreases, the importers can then resume bringing in larger fish that otherwise might not pass muster.
"You're saying the importers know how to maneuver around the FDA?" asked Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa.
"Yes," committee senior investigator David Nelson said.
Some potentially problematic seafood imports are being steered to enter the country in Las Vegas to avoid the scrutiny they might receive in San Francisco and other West Coast seaports, according to Nelson and other investigators.
The problems go beyond food. In Puerto Rico, investigators learned importers were getting around the FDA's blocking of imports of Chinese-made toothpaste made with an antifreeze ingredient by co-packaging them with toothbrushes. Once labeled in import records simply as "toothbrushes," the packages were able to slip past the FDA until the agency caught on, Nelson said. Examples of the tainted toothpaste included a Crest knockoff called "Crust," he added.
The decision to close and consolidate labs is likely to negatively impact safety, said B. Belinda Collins, the FDA's Denver district director. Furthermore, the reorganization would likely force many employees to retire or leave, said Carol Heppe, who faces the loss of her job as the FDA's Cincinnati district director.
"This will result in a mass loss of institutional knowledge and expertise at a time when the agency is trying to be proactive in our operations to prevent more emergencies," Heppe added.
Several of the most recent and high-profile food scares have involved imports from China, including deadly pet food ingredients spiked with industrial chemicals, farmed fish laced with antibiotics and snack food seasoning contaminated by salmonella.
Food and Drug Administration:
www.fda.gov
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
FDA a Corrupt, Incompetent tool of Bribed Politicians who Serve Corporate Special Interests
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
The control of information is vital for a tyrannical government. The free flow of news and information is vital to have and keep our freedom, let alone our safety.
During the past 30 years both parties have sat by while massive corporate monopolies have consolidated ownership of our entire media, and gutted our system of health and safety regulations.
Now the Dems are complaining as the same process that silenced our free press is strangling the flow of information from government agencies. This is nothing more than the next step on the path of "deregulation and voluntary compliance" the Dems themselves have led us down.
We praise the defense of the free flow of information, but we temper our praise by the knowledge that the Dems are shutting the barn doors after the cows (our free press and objective government science) got away.
The Dems have no intention of challenging the corporations who stole our free press, and killed our food and drug safety, because the Dems are much too dependent on the bribes of Big Agriculture and Big Pharm (Farm and Pharm) to give them much trouble.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 16, 4th article on the page, "EPA STANDARDS WILL KILL YOU: SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBERY BRINGS AMERICA DEATH"
Corruption Updates 26, 4th article on the page, "PRESIDENT CLOSING EPA LIBRARIES"
Corruption Updates 33, 10th article on the page, "Bush Suppressing Science and Truth"
Corruption Updates 46, 9th article on the page, "High Court Faults EPA Inaction on Emissions"
Corruption Updates 69, 5th article on the page, "F.D.A. Issues Strictest Warning on Diabetes Drugs"
Search the Corruption Database under
Killing Safety Regulations (24 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
7) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
FDA Bonuses Spending to Draw Scrutiny
Monday, July 16, 2007
(07-16) 21:42 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP)
The Food and Drug Administration is giving workers more than $8 million in bonuses to keep them from defecting to pharmaceutical and other regulated industries, at the same time the agency is being pressed to spend more on food and drug safety.
The retention bonuses, worth $5,000 or more per employee, are triple what it paid in 2002 and more than any other federal agency pays. As recently as 2005, the FDA accounted for more than 40 percent of the overall $21.6 million the government paid in retention bonuses, according to FDA and other government records.
FDA officials say the bonuses are necessary to keep vital employees from moving to the private sector...
"Congress puts in extra money in for food safety and what does FDA spend it on? Bonuses," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
FDA food safety center employees receive just a fraction of the bonuses — $265,000 overall last year. Instead, employees in the drugs office, where the agency reviews new drugs seeking federal approval, claim the vast majority, or nearly $5.8 million in 2006.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
FDA Incompetence Rewarded
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
Retention "Bonuses" for a barebones Administration that is trying to downsize itself, as mentioned in the previous article? Bonuses for drug reviewers who have failed to protect American Health from the unscrupulous Pharmaceutical industry?
No.
Also See:
See references in previous article above this one.
Search the Corruption Database under
Environmental Protection Agency (3 Abstracts)
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
8) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
U.S.: Pakistan Will Fight Militants
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
(07-17) 11:34 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP)
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/07/17/national/w105300D58.DTL
The United States expects Pakistan to launch more military strikes on Islamic militants along its border with Afghanistan even as the Bush administration pumps hundreds of millions of dollars in development aid into lawless tribal regions to fight extremism.
Senior U.S. officials said Tuesday that the administration will back the military efforts of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to quell a resurgence of al-Qaida and Taliban activity in frontier provinces.
"The Pakistani government is dealing decisively with the problems that have been brewing for some time," said Richard Boucher, the assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, who is expected to travel to Islamabad in early August.
He cited recent developments along the Afghan border, particularly in largely ungoverned Waziristan where Washington says al-Qaida has regrouped, as well as the military siege on extremists holed up in Islamabad's Red Mosque.
"Now having dealt with the mosque, it's pretty much crossing a line and there's no going back," Boucher said. "I think it shows that the government of Pakistan is prepared to move, to act, against a dangerous militancy that has come to infect various areas and parts of Pakistani society."
"We have to remember that some military action is necessary, and will probably have to be taken, that there are elements in these areas that are extremely violent and are out to kill government people, out to kill government leaders, and will not settle for a peaceful way forward," he said.
Boucher's comments came at a news briefing timed to coincide with the release of findings from a new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate that expressed concern about al-Qaida's resurgence in Pakistan's northwest, which Musharraf's government had allowed to be policed by tribal chiefs.
At the White House, President Bush's homeland security advisor, Fran Townsend, also praised Musharraf's efforts but said the agreement with tribal leaders had been a failure.
His strategy "hasn't worked for Pakistan. It hasn't worked for the United States," she said, stressing, though, that the administration continues to back Musharraf.
"I think it's fair to say President Musharraf is committed to the fact that he will not permit (the tribal areas) to be a safe haven and we will work with him to ensure that that safe haven is denied to them," Townsend said.
American Dictator to Save Pakistan from Running it's Own Affairs
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
The specter of Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan being able to run their own affairs without an American Backed Dictator has again been firmly rejected by the American Government.
Obedience to America's Dictator, Musharraf, will be compelled not by elections and the Ballot box, where he would surely lose, but with American Guns, Money, and open government violence against those who dare to reject our interference in their internal affairs.
Musharraf is not just an enemy of his own people, he is an enemy of Democracy and Freedom, of the fundamental right of a nation to define itself. And so is the United States.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on the page,
"Pakistan's old new year"
Corruption Updates 38, 10th article on the page, "American Dictator Removes Chief Justice in Pakistan"
Corruption Updates 68, 2nd article on the page, "Pakistan Holds 2 in Pearl Killing: False, These Men Kidnapped 4 years Ago"
Search the Corruption Database under
Pakistan (19 Abstracts)
Musharraf
Supporting Dictators
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
9) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Islamabad Bombing Kills at Least 12
By Griff Witte
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 17, 2007; 1:42 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/17/AR2007071700234_pf.html
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 17 -- At least twelve people died and dozens were wounded Tuesday when a bomb exploded at a demonstration against President Pervez Musharraf in the Pakistani capital, authorities said.
The violence was the latest to flare in Pakistan since government commandos last week stormed a fortified mosque where armed militant students had barricaded themselves.
People had gathered to await the arrival of the country's ousted chief justice when the bomb detonated. Emergency workers tended to the dead and wounded. The rally, bringing together lawyers and other moderate opponents of Musharraf, continued despite the carnage.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, who Musharraf fired on March 9, arrived and inspected the explosion site, where broken glass and blood were still in evidence. The opposition contends that Musharraf fired Chaudhry to prevent him from blocking attempts by Musharraf to continue both as president and head of the army.
In Pakistan's northwest, a suicide bomber killed three soldiers guarding a road, the Associated Press reported. A bystander also died in the blast.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Pakistani Blood Bath Beginning with full US Support for Military Dictatorship
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 44 , 3rd article on page, “American backed Dictator Attempting to Crush Pakistan's Judiciary"
Corruption Updates 67, 4th article on the page, "Musharraf Issues Decree Cracking Down on News Media"
Corruption Updates 69, 2nd article on the page, "Pakistan Arrests 300 Workers From Opposition"
Search the Corruption Database under
Pakistan (18 Abstracts)
Supporting Dictators
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
10) The Article linked below was Abstracted from the cited source. Following the Abstract, you will find analysis and commentary, references to related articles, and a link to the database with suggested search terms.
Manila terror law draws criticism
A tough new anti-terrorism law has come into effect in the Philippines.
Story from BBC NEWS: July 15, 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6899361.stm
The Human Security Act allows the government to detain suspects for up to three days without charge, use wiretaps and also seize suspects' assets.
The government in Manila says the law will help it to tackle militant groups, such as Abu Sayyaf.
But critics, including the Roman Catholic Church, fear the law could be used to quell legitimate political dissent in the country.
The Philippines has been fighting against a wide range of insurgent groups for years, including the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf.
But critics, including the influential Roman Catholic Church, fear President Gloria Arroyo may be tempted to use the new powers to harass her political rivals.
They also say the law is being pushed through without clear implementing guidelines.
Opponents further worry that rogue elements in the army, accused of killing hundreds of mainly political activists over the past few years, will take the new law as a green light to step up their murderous activities, our correspondent says.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Another Corporate Fascist Bitch State Adopting American Police State Rules
Alex Wierbinski, Berkeley, Ca., July , 2007
Also See:
Corruption Updates 93, 2nd article on the page, "Newark: Sentence for Man in Espionage Plot"
Search the Corruption Database under
Philippines
New Feature:
Speak your Mind here! Send your Comments about the Topic Above for Posting!
Please limit comments to 400 words, unless you write really well! Remember to include the Corruption Updates page number, and the article number on the page. Example: (82_1.)
Previous Corruption Updates: Page 91
Next Corruption Updates: Page 93
Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org
