Pfizer sued over Viagra induced blindness

On June 3rd 2005 , Parker & Waichman, LLP (who make a very good living on personal injury, medical claims, medical drug liability class actions) claimed they had been contacted by prospective clients who claim to have suffered loss of vision or complete vision loss as a result of using the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra (sildenafil citrate).

The FDA had announced the week previously that it was investigating a link between erectile dysfunction drugs and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) - which can cause blindness. NAION is a vascular event that occurs when blood flow to the small arteries that supply the optic nerve is decreased or blocked. The lack of blood supply to the optic nerve causes damage to the nerve, which may result in permanent vision loss in one or both eyes. NAION is usually permanent and often leads to legal blindness. NAION usually develops without pain, and patients often awake one morning with reduced vision or total vision loss in one or both eyes. The condition typically worsens over the next one to two weeks. Risk factors normally associated with NAION are age, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and other eye problems.

Parker & Waichman, LLP has also received a significant number of inquiries from Cialis and Levitra users who claim to have suffered vision loss after using those drugs. Viagra, Cialis and Levitra patients.

In its announcement , The Food and Drug Administration said it had received 43 reports of varying degrees of vision loss, including blindness, among users of erectile dysfunction drugs.

With Viagra users there were 38 reports of blindness (6 patients had vision loss within 24 hours)
With Cialis 4 users reported vision loss.
With Levitra 1 person reported such visual impairment.

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) and ICOS Corp. (NASDAQ: ICOS), the makers of Cialis, had already added a warning about possible vision loss to the drug’s label.

The FDA has said it is in discussions with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) the maker of Viagra, and the makers of Levitra, Bayer AG (NYSE: BAY), GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK) and Schering Plough CP (NYSE: SGP) about warnings on those drugs’ labels. Over 50 million men worldwide have used an erectile dysfunction drug since Viagra came onto the market in 1998.

In July the FDA provided updated labeling information for erectile dysfunction drugs to warn of potential vision loss.Pfizer added a section to the "Information for Patients" section of the Viagra label notifying patients that a potential link between Viagra and NAION may exist.

Today Parker & Waichman, LLP announced that it has filed suit against Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) on behalf of a victim who was diagnosed with Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, or NAION, after using Viagra for 4-1/2 years. In July 2005, the FDA issued alerts to physicians and patients about potential vision loss associated with the use of Viagra.

The suit, filed on behalf of the victim and his wife, was filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The plaintiff was diagnosed with NAION after using Viagra from July 1998 to January 2003. Prior to this diagnosis, the plaintiff did not suffer from any serious eye or vision problems. The plaintiff has incurred significant economic losses, including lost pay and medical treatment expenses, which will continue in the future. The suit seeks damages from Pfizer for the defective design of Viagra, and for the failure to warn consumers about the potential risk of vision loss that is associated with the drug.

Of course if Viagra doesn't work for you try some real hard core porn

Global Hawk UAV , delays, cost overruns: Predator "C" in the wings ....

Alfredo Ramirez, Northrop Grumman Global Hawk's chief engineer first dreamt about the successor to the 40 year old,and famous U-2 spy plane, in his Ryan Aeronautical Co. office in San Diego over 10 years ago.

Flying at 60,000 feet, an unmanned vehicle (UAV), communicating by satellite with a range of sensors and that could carry weapons, that could patrol for two days, unlike the 11 hours before pilot fatigue set in the for the human U-2 pilot, (who could be shot down and captured) was his goal.

The General Accounting Office in a 40 page report, now says that the program Ramirez has run since then has run up costs of US$6.6 Bn which so far runs out at US$130.5 Mn. per aircraft and they compare this with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems ( a privately held company) second-generation Predator B whose costs total US$1.2 Bn. Or US$19.2 Mn. – per vehicle.

The effect of the cost growth and the delays is that the program has run foul of the Nunn-McCurdy Act .... Congress has to be told when acquisition costs on individual programs exceed 15 %. The Office of the Secretary of Defense has to certify that Global Hawk is:

1. Necessary to national security
2. That costs are now under control
3. The reason for the restructuring of the program
4. No alternatives exist that can provide equal or greater military capability at less cost.

That certification has to be and will be complete by June 5, according to Air Force spokesman Doug Karas.

A major problem is that the U-2 "Dragon Lady" spy plane, whose retirement is due between 2007 and 2011 ( a big proponent of ending it's service life is Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters), in part to free up money to fund the Global Hawk program - about $1 billion and 3,300 personnel slots in operating costs, according to Defense Department budget documents.

However, the U-2 fleet is capable of flying until 2050, due to engine and cockpit upgrades over the last 10 years, according to the Congressional Research Service. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is a popular belief, especially amongst some Congressmen - mainly the ones who don’t live in San Diego it appears.

For Northrop Grumman, who took over the revolutionary Global Hawk program with its buyout of San Diego's Ryan Aeronautical in 1999 (along with Alfredo Ramirez) such criticism is very unwelcome.

However this is not the first time the GAO have raised a quizzical eyebrow at the costs of Global Hawk, for they reported in 2004, that the overall estimated cost of the program had soared to $6.3 billion, a 16.6 percent increase over the $5.4 billion set in 2001.

Northrop Grumman says the 1st generation model Global Hawk cost is $21 million for each jet aircraft, the electronic sensors adds $11 million and the mission control system adds another $11 million.

That means a total cost to $43 million, although the ground control system is used with more than one UAV. The company estimates the cost of a 2nd -generation Global Hawk RQ4-B at $56.5 million, which includes a bigger jet aircraft at $29 million and a more advanced sensor package at $16.5 million.

The implications for Grumman and the Global Hawk program are very significant because the UAV market has become bigger and more competitive with suppliers from many nations.

Before 9/11 the DOD spent US$3.6 billion on the UAV program, says the latest GAO report, it plans to spend another US$24 Bn in the next 5 years. A market that didn’t exist 5 years ago.

The other main US supplier General Atomics with their Predator UAV series poses a major challenge domestically, as well as Swedish, French, and Israeli suppliers.

The 1st generation Predator A is propeller-driven airplane flying at 25.000 ft the B – series is bigger , can reach 50,000 feet and can carry 16 “Hellfire” anti-tank missiles. The market (and the military are waiting to see what Predator C looks like)

The unmanned Global Hawk can fly
1. Twice as far as the U-2
2. Remain on station for 3 times as long, = 10,000 nautical miles from its take-off location, and it provides detailed image-based intelligence on 40,000 square miles, about the size of the UK.
3. The U-2 can carry twice the payload of the Global Hawk "A" model.
4. The U-2's superior electrical power increases some of the capabilities of its onboard sensors.
5. The Global Hawk B will boost its payload weight (by 1000 lbs)and an electrical generator to roughly match the U-2 say Northrop Grumman.,

Global Hawk will not be able to match the U-2's synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical and infrared capabilities at least through 2012. When the "B" model is introduced -- and if it works as advertised -- it will largely close those gaps, according to Air Force and company officials.

The U-2 has a major and very significant capacity that the Global Hawk cannot match -- broad area synoptic coverage (BAS), according to USAF sources.

BAS is a static image of an enormous area, (dimensions are classifed). This is used both for treaty verification and also in preparation for battles; a single shot can show how an entire enemy force is arrayed on the battlefield. Follow up shots then can track movements.

The U-2s BAS was used to chart the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, (with what benefit it is difficult to determine) . Satellites cannot take broad pictures, creating less accurate "mosaics" with smaller pictures taken over a longer time period, then pieced together by intelligence analysts. Global Hawks have to date, flown more than 5,500 combat hours in more than 250 missions so far, in support of the war on terrorism over Afghanistan and Iraq (and maybe Iran?).

On April 5th Northrop Grumman delivered another (the 6th) RQ-4 Global Hawk to USAF after delivering 2 in January and another is scheduled for the summer. The US Navy has acquired two RQ-4's for their Maritime Demonstration Program.

New equipment in the forthcoming RQ-4A will include a civil-certificated GPS satellite navigation system embedded, controller-pilot datalink ommunications and automatic dependent surveillance (ADS). Global Hawk is already equipped with a traffic collision avoidance system and Mode S transponder, for situation awareness and not automatic avoidance manoeuvres.

This is all fitted in the new 0.9m (3ft) fuselage extension, with a new 39.6m span wing and a 27kVA generator replacing the existing 10kVA system bringing payload weight up to 3,000 lbs.
The ground control stations (GCS) will be equipped with 8.33kHz-spacing VHF radios for voice communications with civilian air traffic control (ATC) via the UAV and an Inmarsat satellite communications relay. ADS-A data on the UAV's identification, location and heading will be similarly relayed to ATC. While Global Hawk is often restricted to operating at 50,000ft (15,250m) or higher and making spiral take-off and landings to avoid civil air traffic, this version will be capable of transiting through General Air Traffic airspace.

Enhancements will include evaluating and selecting alternative mission packages, including radio frequency signals intelligence (SIGINT) and making initial open- system computing provision for the future Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Programme due in the program for 2007-8. The first RQ-4A Lot 5 in 2008-9 will include more SIGINT and a new common datalink.

The USAF has postponed indefinitely a planned deployment to Germany and demonstration of a Global Hawk equipped with an EADS electronic intelligence(ELINT)package.

The air force says there are no available UAVs for the demonstration as the result of the military build-up in the Gulf. Following the delivery last month of the 7th development vehicle and the loss of three earlier demonstrators there are now only four RQ-4As flying.

Predator series has a proud record of service

“The Predator Series of unmanned aircraft systems had made a significant impact on the global war on terrorism, providing persistent ISR and full-mission capability to military users and decision-makers around the world,” said Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr., president, Aircraft Systems, Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in September 2005 “Now with an experience base of more than 150,000 flight hours, no other UAS manufacturer can match the combat-proven, unparalleled performance and exceptional reliability of the Predator family.”

The Predator Series now including a variety of additional aircraft systems, including Altus®, I-GNAT®, Predator B, Altair®, Army I-GNAT ER and Warrior™. These aircraft aircraft are in constant daily operations supporting the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Government, NASA, NOAA, Italian Air Force, Turkish Army and other customers and have been deployed in world trouble spots on five continents, including operations in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

"To secure our nation's borders is priority number one," said Robert C. Bonner, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "CBP now owns and operates the most advanced state-of-the-art technology and is capitalizing on the Predator B unmanned aircraft system to secure the country better. This 'eye in the sky' will not only support the 'boots on the ground' but will also allow us to deploy resources more effectively, ultimately enhancing our ability to gain operational control of our borders."



(c) Edgar Corporation
Pic right at the top is recent addition to the NG Board, General B Myers - he's the guy (Chief of all the Armed Forces of the USA) who on the morning of 9-11 was shooting the breeze for 2 solid hours in Senator McLellan's office by the Potomac, whilst the pentagon was burning and Manhattan fell down , outta site of TV, outta hearing of Radio, Messages, Telephones, Pagers , knocks on the door ... etc.,

Bet they have to wake him up to give him his pay check.

It was only eleven years ago today ....

...On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, and injuring 500. Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the bombing and sentenced to death...

..... a perfect, sun-drenched sping Oklahoma morning. A yellow Ryder Rental truck carefully made its way through the streets of downtown Oklahoma City. (pic)

Just after 9 am, the truck pulled into a curbside parking area outside the Alfred P. Murrah Building and the driver stepped down from the truck’s cab. Casually he walked away. A few minutes later, at 9:02, the truck’s deadly 4000-pound cargo blasted the government building with enough force to shatter one third of the seven-story structure to bits.

Long time Oklahoma Patrol officer Trooper Charlie Hanger was headed north on I-35. He was about 75 miles from the disaster area when he noticed a beat-up yellow 1977 Mercury Grand Marquis ... with no license plate.

He signalled the driver to pull over, parked and got out of his patrol car. Timothy McVeigh got out of the yellow junker and went to meet him.

McVeigh explained he'd just bought the car and it had no micense plate. When Hanger asked if he had insurance, registration, or a bill of sale McVeigh explained everything was being mailed to his address. Then he handed over his driver's license.

Hanger noticed a tell-tale bulge under McVeigh's jacket. "What's that?" the cop asked.

McVeigh cooly explained it was a gun, the trooper held his own weapon to McVeigh's head. Then Hanger confiscated the 9-mm Glock that McVeigh was packing, as well as an ammo clip and a knife.

Monday June 11th 2001 Federal Penitentiary in Terre Haute,IN

Federal officials declared the man responsible for the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history was killed by lethal injection at 7:14 a.m. (8:14 a.m. EDT)

McVeigh, 33, was executed for the April 19, 1995, attack in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people and wounded hundreds more. It was the first federal execution since 1963.

Speaking from the White House briefing room about an hour and a half after the execution, President Bush told reporters that McVeigh "met the fate he chose for himself six years ago." Bush said, "Under the laws of our country the matter is concluded."

Whatever the Truth was, died with him.

Zimbabwe celebrates 26 years of Independence today

"If there is one thing that no responsible Zimbabwean can deny today, it is that our country is in the throes of a devastating economic meltdown," wrote Jonathan Moyo, Mugabe's former information czar in a private weekly.

Moyo, who was last year shunned by his former mentor Mugabe when he decided to contest elections as an independent candidate, said the economy was the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front's (Zanu-PF) main enemy.

Moyo said Mugabe "and his cronies have no solution to the opposition outside [the] brutality of a knee-jerk law and order response of ruling by terror".



This 2 year old cartoon says all that it is necessary to say but you can go here to find out how bad it is today in Zimbabwe.

BREAKING NEWS FROM PRAVDA



One of the founders of Zimbabwe 's independence movement, James Chikerema, died in a hospital in Indianapolis, US on Friday. He was 81. PRAVDA

An uncle of Richard Mugabe he was a co-founder in 1948 of the first black nationalist political group in Rhodesia as Zimbabwe was known before independence from Britain in 1980 which grew to become the first resistance and guerrilla organization known as the Zimbabwe African People's Union , or ZAPU.

President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party was born out of a split in ZAPU.

Chikarema had been increasingly critical of Mugabe and left the country.

Finally the Govenrment run Chronicle says ....

Independence celebrations kicked off on a high note last night with a starstudded musical concert at the Harare International Conference Centre.

The country’s top musicians performed at the glittering concert to mark 26 years of Independence from colonial bondage.

President fingers Susan Schwab

Today the President fingered Susan Schwab to take over from Porter as No 1 Trade negotiator. Let's hope she has no more tax problems to blame on Calpine and her accountant.

Susan Schwab became the No. 2 trade negotiator in November 2005 after leaving her posts as professor and earlier as a dean at the University of Maryland sha was also a Director of Calpine Ltd.,

In October 2003, Schwab withdrew her nomination to be Deputy Treasury Secretary for personal reasons, which the Wall Street Journal later said were possible questions about her tax returns.

In November 2000, Schwab exercised options to buy 20,000 Calpine shares and then sold 17,500 of them, receiving an income of about $1.5 million, the Journal reported Nov. 3, 2003. Her tax return made it appear she wasn't obligated to pay Medicare taxes of about $45,000 and the remaining 2,500 shares yielded another $210,000 of income she didn't initially report, the newspaper said.

Schwab blamed the non-payments on poor advice from her accountants and bad record-keeping by Calpine, the newspaper said. hey, US$1.5 Mn ..shit happens baby!

Schwab also was a director in corporate business development of Motorola Inc. from 1993 to 1995. She previously served in the first Bush administration as an assistant Commerce Department secretary from 1989 to 1993. (Evidently didn't take Tax 101)

It is perhaps interesting to note that as second to Porter she went to a meeting of the Presidents Export Council at which By Honorable Carlos M. Gutierrez Secretary of Commerce said , "We believe, again, that it is all about responsible tax policies. The last thing we need today is a tax increase. One thing I would just say, is not passing and not making the President's tax cuts permanent would be equivalent to a tax increase." something Susan Schwab would no doubt heartily endorse not having taken Tax 101. (anyway the record shows she didn't object).

What it does record is Andy Card whose resignation started off the Schwab / Porter / Bolten / Card "reshuffle" as the Press calls it saying what happened when he spoke to the Pres. on the morning of 9.11 in that Florida Schoolroom - which as far as I know has never been told before ...

"But I whispered into the President's ear, on a pretty historic day, unfortunately, a day of infamy, not unlike tomorrow's day of infamy (? sic), when I said, "A second plane to the second tower in America is under attack." That was in a classroom at a school in Florida. It was September 11th, a beautiful, sunny day in 2001. So that means when he went in the room he knew that the first plane had hit ? Hmmmm.

Anyway that's something Susan can talk to Andrew about now that he's got the time to talk about it. But then maybe not.

For more about Calpine and it's clean air (they are getting rid of the dirty power stations in concentrating on their core business by the way. Hence the nifty logo at the top. (pic Maryland U faculty of SS where they say Schwab spent most of the 1980s as a trade policy specialist and legislative director for Senator John Danforth playing a major role in numerous U.S. trade policy initiatives, including landmark trade legislation that Congress enacted in 1984 and 1988. Thomas Eagleton called Danforth "the least-phony politician that I know". More about St. Dan here)

Gaza Greenhouses -

James Wolfensohn's anger over the Gaza greenhouses becomes more apparent. Asked about reports he would leave his post, Wolfensohn said he had not decided, but was considering it.‘I do not believe you can have a million starving Palestinians and have peace,’ he told Congress. AP report Y.Net
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $10 million to facilitate the transfer of the greenhouses.This was a unique grant, made quickly and quietly because we believed it was in the best interest of all parties and would enhance the peace process." said a spokesman.

Gates' charitable foundation, provided the bulk of the funds used to purchase the greenhouses from Gush Katif residents at rock-bottom prices, to be handed over to the Palestinian Authority (PA) says Forbes Magazine.

The Gates Foundation is stated to be for global health and has kept away from taking a side in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Until the Forbes report, confidentiality had been observed by all the parties involved.

Israel's excellent horticultural crops were grown in the advanced hi-tech Gush Katif greenhouses and Gush Katif farmers exported more than US$100 million of horticultural produce to Europe annually.

In a quick $14 million deal brokered by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, the greenhouses were transferred to the Palestinian Authority. The PA then took responsibility for the facilities, but failed to protect them from looters. PA security personnel assigned to protect the greenhouses reportedly took part in the looting as well.

The greenhouses that survived are not being well used, as PA farmers complain that they are having trouble reproducing the bug-free produce grown by the greenhouses’ former Jewish owners. The US governmental development group USAID has been approached to hire back the expelled Israelis as consultants for the declining vegetable businesses.

FOOTNOTE

With the FAO terrific work had been done to the benefit of Territories under PA control (TUJPA) Jordan and Israel to use UN help in sterilising med fly males to control damge to crops. Resulting in greater yields, better crops and higher prices.

Surely this a case where the UK , Holland could rapidly provide expertise at negligible cost by seconding staff ? Urgent action is required before they simply get looted and destroyed ? Holland has provided specialist horticultural advice to DPRK with staff etc., previously.

El Al to buy Airbus 330's in snub to Boeing

For first time, El Al to buy Airbus instead of Boeing
By Zohar Blumenkrantz Haaretz today

The Borovich-Mozes group, (see footnote)which bought the controlling interest in El Al from the state, in a massive snub to Boeing, are to buy eight A-330 Airbus aircraft, which will replace Boeing 767 passenger jets. The deal, including spare parts, is estimated at US$500 million.

A series of meetings, held under a veil of secrecy, ended Tuesday night at the Ramat Hahayal offices of the Borovich-Mozes group.

European Union Banks will provide credit to finance the deal, in the same way to the credit El Al has received in the past with Boeingto be repaid over a 14-year period. Airbus is committed to a three-year delivery schedule from the date the deal is signed.

Elsewhere, Emirates, the biggest customer for the new Airbus A380, said it may buy more of the aircraft in place of a $4.2 billion order for 20 Airbus 340-600's which have been put on hold.

Pic the Airbus transporter, shipping A380 wings from North Wales UK to Toulouse France.(c) Airbus Industrie

FOOTNOTE

The sale of El Al was completed in January 2005 with transfer of control of the company to Knafaim – Arkia Holdings Ltd. controlled by the Borovich family, and the company began a new era – an era of full independent management.

There is a close connection between El Al, as the national carrier, and the State of Israel, via aviation policies and agreements determined by the government. The State owns a “golden share” in ensuring its vital interests via the company, including the ability to maintain national air transportation in times of emergency. Additionally, El Al continues in a range of national activities such as airlifting immigrants, flying March of the Living participants, humanitarian aid and medical missions for the needy after the tsunami, contributions to Jewish communities around the world, etc.

In addition to cutting staff from a high of 5,000 (at the start of the intifadah) to 3,500 today. State employees are no longer made to fly El Al and can fly with other carriers, self check-in is to be introduced, and the airline is now said to be profitable.

In a recent article in Forbes Israel the Borovich family were named as one of the 12 families owning 60% of the listed companies in Israel. They were named as Sami Ofer, Nochi Dankner, Shari Arison, the Cerberus-Gabriel consortium, Charles Bronfman, Yitzchak Tshuva, the Saban group, Lev Leviev, Matthew Bronfman, Tzadik Bino, the Borovich family, and Eliezer Fishman and are said to be well connected with Kadima.

Boeing big freighter - but big problems

The Boeing 747-700 that will transport 787 Dreamnlier parts from Japan and China to Everett takes shape in Seattle. 2 more are being modified at Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. in Taiwan

The volume of the Large Cargo Freighters main deck will be 65,000 cubic feet (1,845m3), three times the cargo by volume as the 747-400 freighter.

The freighter will make its first flight this summer and be certified by the end of the year. The first two airplanes begin supporting 787 final assembly in 2007.

Meanwhile Airbus are planning aircraft manufacture in China and will be moving parts made in Europe to China ...
Boeing Parts and Rules Bent, Whistle-Blowers Say
By Florence Graves and Sara Kehaulani Goo Special to The Washington Post, Monday, April 17, 2006; Page A01

In early 2002, Prewitt, Smith and Ailes sent thousands of documents supporting their case to the Justice Department alleging that questionable parts had been installed not only on hundreds of 737s but also on some 747s, 757s, 767s and 777s and their military equivalents without the knowledge of the Air Force and Navy, the commercial airlines, or the FAA. Shortly after that, in March 2002, the three workers -- and one other whistle-blower who later dropped out -- filed their lawsuit.

In 2003, the whistle-blowers withdrew their suit after the Justice Department declined to join. They refiled it in March 2005....... Which one of those Boring lawyers takes up as only lawyers can

Boeing of course are already heavily embroiled in the Darleen Druyun / Mike Sears tanker deal and unethical conduct.

.... any more bad news for Boeing ?

Democracy comes at a price ....

An Unkept Promise in Iraq NYT April 17, 2006

2 years ago, the US government made a promise to build 142 health clinics in Iraq, bringing basic care to underserved areas outside the big cities. That would save innocent Iraqi lives, and build good will for the US where it has grown dangerously scarce.

A generous cost-plus contract was awarded to Parsons Inc., an American construction firm, to do the work, supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers.

With roughly $200 million already spent and which will run out in less than 9 months, it appears extremely unlikely that most of those clinics will ever be built. The Washington Post reported earlier this month, the Army Corps of Engineers predicts that no more than 20 clinics will actually be completed — out of 142.

The Good news for the Iraqis desperate for decent health care is ......The office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction is looking into it.

Whoooooooop de doooo!!!!

James F. McNulty was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Parsons in January 1998. Jim retired from the Army as a Colonel in 1988, joining Parsons that same year.

So you might think this might cause parsons to worry well in February they were pleased to announce to the Pasadena Press (PDF Alert)..

In January , Parsons was awarded a $28 million contract to reconstruct and renovate the Tadji military base and Iraqi Armed Forces recruiting stations.

The contract was awarded through the company's Worldwide Environmental Restoration Contract with the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence.

The Tadji based project - deemed critical to maintaining security in Iraq while its infrastructure is rebuilt - will include building renovation, repair of wastewater treatment plants and installation of sewer lines.

"This work is expected to be finished in June,' Parsons spokeswoman Virginia Baca said. "They need to get this military base and the reconstruction up and running so the Iraqi military can protect their country.'

Hey not bad ... but there's more shareholders ...

That contract comes on the heels of another announced earlier in January from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Parsons Corp. was part of a team awarded a contract for future work in restoring the oil infrastructure in northern Iraq to pre-war production levels.

The contract, valued at $500,000 to as much as $800 million, covers a variety of services including the cleanup and restoration of oil fields, pipelines and refineries.

The two-year agreement also has three one-year options, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

McNulty said he takes pride in his company's work - work that in many cases changes people's lives.

Now that is what I would call a fucking scandal but then Jim obviously has friends in the US Army Corps of Engineers.

French demand Judicial enquiry into Rendition flights on French soil.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) is urging French prosecutors to open a judicial inquiry into allegations that CIA-operated rendition flights stopped at French airports. A local French prosecutor has already opened a preliminary investigation into claims that CIA planes which landed at Le Bourget airport outside Paris carried terror suspects being transported to countries where they could be subject to torture.

FIDH believe - if the facts can be established - that these procedures for transporting prisoners can be likened to a form of arbitrary detention and illegal confinement and may constitute, blatant violations of the Geneva Conventions. In addition, it has now been established that the techniques called “intensive interrogation” by CIA operatives involve the use of torture and mistreatment and are therefore officially prohibited by the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Punishment or Treatment of 10 December 1984. There is now every reason to fear that such practices have been carried out on prisoners while they were being transported on two suspect flights.

FIDH are currently filing their complaint with the Public Prosecutor of the Administrative Court of Bobigny,(le procureur de Bobigny, Francis Molins) as Paris-Le Bourget Airport is situated within its jurisdiction ( and also limited to that). They intention is to emphasise the responsibility of the French authorities, to inquire into the activities of these planes and to pursue their perpetrators." ("détentions arbitraires, séquestrations, tortures, et de violations de la troisième convention de Genève sur le sort des prisonniers de guerre".)

Following a report released by Amnesty International earlier this month detailing the CIA's alleged use of private air carriers and "front" companies to hide its rendition practices, the FIDH is calling for an international judicial commission to look into the allegations.

US officials have always denied using rendition to allow torture of suspects by foreign governments, although Condoleezza Rice acknowledged making mistakes in the "war on terror," when having a jolly time with Jack in Blackburn recently. Der Spiegel preferred to call it "Condi's Tale of Lies".In March, the Council of Europe Secretary General issued a report (by Swiss Senator Dick Marty) concluding that there was no clear evidence of any secret CIA detention facilities in Europe.

Suspicions have persisted, however, with declassified Canadian memos...(22/2/06

One note, stamped secret, says 20 planes with alleged CIA ties have made 74 flights to Canada since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The note adds the Canada Border Services Agency, which compiled the figures, and Nav Canada, the civil aviation regulatory body, "have indicated that proper administrative and operational procedures were followed in relation to those flights."

.... and UK air traffic controllers (Guradian) suggesting that the US did use rendition to transfer suspects through their domestic airspaces. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak recently said that he is certain that the United States has secret detention facilities in Europe and has demanded access to them, he has catalogued in a 15-page U.N. report for the UN Council how the systems works and which countries have been involved. AFP has (Eng.) more. Le Monde (Fr.) has local coverage.

Pic (Prison Planet) is of Prestwick Airport from Google Earth, just when Pres. Bush's Galaxy's were unloading his fleet of bomb proof limo's for the G8 Summit. Rendition flights have passed through Prestwick however.More.

Lord Adonis - Plod is on his trail

(DOB 22/2/63)takes his rather luscious title from his Greek Cypriot father (Adonis is from the same semitic root as Adonai, meaning "Lord.") and is currently known by the even more impressive title of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Education and Skills.

Andrew's early life was spent council estate near King's Cross in London. His mother left him and his younger sister and Andrew was was awarded a local education authority grant to go to the private Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire, near Chipping Norton.

From there he went onto Keble College Oxford taking a First in Modern History and then doctorate in 19th century political history at Christ Church, Oxford in 1988. Finally he became a research fellow and tutor at Nuffield College, Oxford from then until 1991, where he met and tutored his wife Kathryn Davis who after graduating at Jesus eventually went to work for Proctor and Gamble in Germany.

Frome the Groves of Oxford Academe he moved on to the Financial Times where he was a public policy correspondent, industry correspondent, and a public policy editor all at the Financial Times. In 1996, he moved to The Observer.

At oxford he appears to have been a member of the SDP and indeed wrote the official biography of Lord Jenkins of Hillhead - a tome that appears to have sunk without trace.he was for a time a Liberal democrat Councillor in Oxford (87-91) and was for a brief time a prospective Parliamentary candidate for the SDP.

The Labour Party, Andrew rises without trace

It was in 1995 that Andrew joined the Labour Party, his rapid rise within the higher levels of the party appears uncharted but after 1997 he was a member of the No 10 Policy Unit with a special interest in Education and has been seen as a prime mover on educational issues such as Top Up Fees, Fresh Start and Tony's favourite "City Academies".

Opposition to Top Up Fees is widespread (said to have been supported by his SDP mentor Lord jenkins) , The strategy of the "Fresh Start" policy was to close and reopen "failing schools" with new names and new staff which has seen to be an experiment that failed. His "City Academies" programme has attracted strong criticism from educationalists, parents and Labour politicians and now has landed him with an interview with the Met's finest to chat about funding the Academies and peerages.

Outside the charmed circle Andrew seems to have few friends and in In October 2003 Andrew was rumoured in the media to have been heavily involved in the resignation of the then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, Estelle Morris, when they failed to work effectively together.

It was however his elevation to the peerage last year after the election when he was boosted to be the Education Secretary that caused most alarm. Finally he had to accept Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - but Ruth Kelly was said to be "less than thrilled "at his presence in her Ministry.

Roy Hattersley former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party,lifelong advocate of comprehensive schooling, and sometimed a man with a keen phrase, usually assembled when attacking Tony Blair called his elevation "an example of Tony Blair's kamikaze attacks on its the Labour Party's most cherished values" and that the appointment "wins high marks for [its] arrogant insensitivity"

The Lord's eye view of the Lords

Andrew's rapid elevation to the Lords is curious given that he wrote in 1997, "Modernising Britain's Democracy: The Case for Change" on reforming of the House of Lords:

"Lords reform is not just about democratic equality. The present Second Chamber, lacking democratic legitimacy, is incapable of performing the essential functions of a revising assembly…

"Occasionally the Lords has exerted itself: John Major's government, having lost its overall majority, was forced to make concessions over Michael Howard's police and sentencing legislation. But this was in the highly exceptional instance of a government unable to get its own way automatically in the Commons. Governments most in need of a strong revising chamber - those with large majorities in the Commons - are those which find it easiest to ride roughshod over the little "revision" that the existing Lords carries out.

"This critique implies a two-stage reform of the Lords. First, the removal of the hereditary peers. Secondly, a wider reform to give the Second Chamber the democratic credentials which can only come from election, although there is still a case for a nominated element in the Upper House to ensure that distinguished non-party figures retain a voice in Parliament."

The 1911 Parliament Act, which curbed the Lords' powers, included a pledge to replace the hereditary chamber with an elected one. Ninety years later, we are still waiting.

Highly unpopular with the rank and file he was roundly attacked in January this year when the Education Bill was launched and backbenchers called for his removal. Lord Kinnock without naming Andrew referred to a "conniving person" at the heart of government who was pushing Mr Blair much too far down the path of reform.

Andrew wrote an article when at the Observer in December 1996, in which he saw education as the prime policy for the new Labour Government and urged Tony Blair to take two posts in the new Labour government: prime minister – and Education Secretary.

The article also articulated his concern about the widening gap between state and private education: ‘Britain’s private-sector, private-educated elite is separating from the rest of society at an alarming rate as we breed a strain of plutocratic meritocracy unique to the western world.’ Andrew's proposed solution was to break up the state system as we knew it, using ‘public-private partnership, higher expectations of teachers, the setting and selection of pupils by aptitude, vocational education, and decisive intervention to revive failing schools’.

Academy Schools. Which Tony promised us 200 and we now have 27.... and a reeking smell of power, patronage and influence.

Tony puts his best foot forward

The Daily Telegraph reports today "A senior Downing Street aide to Mr Blair, speaking with his full authority, said Number 10 was now "ready to go on the front foot" on the issue.

"We are very positive about people who have given their money and expertise and time being recommended for seats in the House of Lords," said the aide, adding that the honours system should operate in exactly that way.

"We want these people to be in the House of Lords and take the Labour whip. It is something we are prepared to celebrate."

Plods take an interest in the Baron

Sir Cyril Taylor of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) is quoted in the Sunday Herald that Andrew, when he was Blair’s education adviser before he became a minister, had met with potential academy sponsors. Taylor said: “If you are putting in a lot of energy and a couple of million pounds, you want some attention.”

Andrew's involvement in talking to sponsors and giving them the “attention” of a senior Downing Street aide with close contact to Blair, will be of keen interest to the Scotland Yard investigation. As the inquiry widens ... and begins to encompass those officials and aides who met with sponsors, Adonis may well need to explain just what “attention” actually meant.

Six of those who delivered the largest level of sponsorship finance into the city academies programme were officially honoured after pledging cash support. Plus three more who have disapeerages.

Perhaps in 1997 when he wrote about the reform of the Lords ..."although there is still a case for a nominated element in the Upper House to ensure that distinguished non-party figures retain a voice in Parliament." he did, unlike those politicians who go to the trouble of being elected , mean it... and did something about it .... by the well known democratic process of having a word in Tony's ear.(see pic)

Ariel Sharon's legacy - Sabra, Shattila & a Prison of Gaza

Want to know how life is for the Palestinian Princess ... life on the Gaza street, go here NOW
First, Israel stops flour from entering Gaza, and now stops petroleum from the W. Bank. What's next?

Maybe some of you know, well, maybe you don't, but last Sunday, Israel stopped petroleum to the W. Bank, granted it lasted only for a day but it was surely done as a slap on the wrist for us bad Palestinians.....

In Israel the water is controlled by the Department of Agriculture but the water for the W. Bank is controlled by the Department of Defense so I will let you guys ponder that one...

Also go here to the Cutter @ PeacePalestine....
US & EU cut aid to PA - it amounts to a boycott against the Palestinian people

which includes There is no hunger in Gaza By Gideon Levy of Haaretz 09/04/2006

..... "even if they have bags of flour and rice, the living conditions of the Palestinians are chilling. They live in prison. Their daily routine includes humiliation that is no less terrible than malnutrition. Anyone who has to beg for permission to leave his village, to spend hours crowded in line at a checkpoint just to reach his destination, anyone whose bedroom is brutally invaded in the middle of the night by the occupation army, whose time and life is considered valueless, and whose basic human dignity has been trampled into dust, cannot find any consolation in the fact that flour and rice is available....."

and this pic. ...See also the Observer article about Gaza today 16th April 2006

Drugs deliver the profits - new ways to deliver the drugs ?

The FDA approved 81 new medicines in 2005 compared with 113 in 2004. An estimated 18 new molecular entities were amongst them , compared with 36 in 2004. 2 new drugs Nexavar and Levemir are seen by the pharma industry see as "Blockbusters" - US$1Bn sales a year.

Nexavar® a Bayer / Onyx drug is the first FDA-approved drug for renal cell carcinoma in more than a decade. The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products approved it for use in Switzerland this week and it is expected to roll out over Europe this year as Bayer have filed for regulatory approval with the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). Trials are currently underway trial studying Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets administered in combination with the chemotherapeutic agents carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).


Levemir by Novo Nordisk Inc.was approved June 16 for treating adults with diabetes mellitus, type 1 and type 2 and is currently approved in 50 countries worldwide. On October 20th , FDA approved Levemir for use in children. Levemir is a novel, long-acting form of insulin that provides up to a 24-hour duration of action and has been observed in studies with adults to cause little weight change. The company was awarded the prestigious James D. Watson Helix Award for their work on this drug.


Increasingly the pharma industry is assessing new methods of drug delivery as the novel products line diminishes. At the BIO 2006 conference in Chicago, on April 9-12, 2006, Do-Coop Technologies introduced Neowater (TM) - introduced Nano Neowater a product which is described as a Solubilization Enhancer that enables or increases the solubility of hydrophobic, insoluble molecules and drugs.

Neowater is based on the novel techniques of water-based nanotechnology. Unlike dry nanotechnology, which is directed to manufacturing a nanoparticle end product, Neowater builds upon the unique properties of nanoparticles to modify the physical properties of water molecules around them.

Each nanoparticle within Neowater, with its huge surface, creates a "surface effect," and in turn organizes the water molecules surrounding it. It is claimed this resembles the surface effect of organelles within living cells. Both the organelles and the nanoparticles use this mechanism to create "intracellular" water. While the former is within cells and organs and cannot be harnessed nor used in a lab bench, the latter type, which is branded as Neowater, can.

Based in Israel, the company produces a water based product whose physical properties mimic that of intracellular water using inorganic, insoluble crystals introduced in water in a patented process. Neowater, with its stable system of largely hydrated nano-particles, like non-ionic detergent derived micelles, reduces the entropy of aqueous solutions. In addition, by design, it exhibits both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties.

About Neowater(TM) - Solubilization Enhancer

Eran Gabbai, is the founder, President and CTO of Do-Coop Technologies, and the inventor and patentee of Neowater technology, he points out that Biotech and Pharma companies have libraries or portfolios of what are considered to be significant compounds which have been proven effective in vitro, yet they are very insoluble and thus (currently) unusable. Neowater technology he claims could dramatically enhance the solubility of those compounds that are difficult-to-solvate, or that are used with common solvents but exhibit poor pharmacokinetics.

Biotech and Pharma companies using these products can solubilize such compounds, which may enhance both their stability and bio-availability, extending and protecting their intellectual property. (They may not of course)

Neowater replaces polar solvents such as detergents and surfactants, alcohols such as ethanol and other broadly used ( but widely criticised) solvents like Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)

However before you get too excited read more about it here
or go to the history of Polywater here

Forgotten victims

No Child Left Behind Newsweek
More than 1,200 U.S. kids have lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"The Army has never been very good at talking about death—especially when it comes to children. But with a fighting force that is increasingly made up of parents—43.5 percent of all service people have children—the U.S. military is realizing it needs to offer more to grieving families than a folded flag and a package of death benefits. "

"The children have often been the forgotten mourners," explains Vicki Jay, executive director of Rays of Hope, a children's grief center in Texas.... 

The Easter Rising ?

Exporting 'Democracy' – Importing Trouble
Why we ought to mind our own business

Justin Raimondo

The text of a speech delivered to the Yale Political Union on April 13th. On this occasion, the Union debated the topic: "Resolved: America should not use force to export democracy."

.."The neoconservative foreign policy project – succinctly summed up by the President as the goal of "ending tyranny in our world" – is closer, in theory and in practice, to the spirit of Marxism than to anything vaguely resembling conservatism, or, indeed, any ideology born on American soil. That is entirely appropriate, of course, since the leftist roots of neoconservatism are well known, and it is clear that, as much as they talk about patriotism and "pro-Americanism," their real roots spring from a bulb planted not by Jefferson, but by Trotsky."...

Read this, if this does not convince you of the utter folly of the Iraqi and Afghan adventures - and possible Iranian manouevres in the dark, nothing will.

Meanwhile the Generals (Rtd.) revolt against their Commander in Chief ...... McArthur and Truman Redux ?

Climate changes, Pm's change, attitudes don't

The UK Government’s chief scientist Professor Sir David King has been ever present on TV news this Easter saying that even by the most optimistic assessments carbon dioxide levels were set to rise to double what they were at the time of the industrial revolution - leading to a 3C rise in temperature resulting in all sorts of dire predictions being made and TV news going ape over library shots of flood, melting ice, snow, hurricanes …..

60 scientists attached their names to a letter to the Canadian prime Minister last week which was published in the National Post… read it, here are some brief extracts.

Dear Prime Minister,

As accredited experts in climate and related scientific disciplines, we write to propose that balanced, comprehensive public-consultations be held to examine the scientific foundation of the federal government's climate-change plans. This would be entirely consistent with your recent commitment to conduct a review of the Kyoto Protocol. Although many of us made the same suggestion to then-prime ministers Martin and Chretien, neither responded, and, to date, no formal, independent climate-science review has been conducted in Canada. Much of the billions of dollars earmarked for implementation of the protocol in Canada will be squandered without a proper assessment of recent developments in climate science.

Observational evidence does not support today's computer climate models, so there is little reason to trust model predictions of the future.

Yet this is precisely what the United Nations did in creating and promoting Kyoto ……

While the confident pronouncements of scientifically unqualified environmental groups may provide for sensational headlines, they are no basis for mature policy formulation.

The study of global climate change is, as you have said, an "emerging science," one that is perhaps the most complex ever tackled. …

"Climate change is real" is a meaningless phrase used repeatedly by activists to convince the public that a climate catastrophe is looming and humanity is the cause. Neither of these fears is justified. Global climate changes all the time due to natural causes and the human impact still remains impossible to distinguish from this natural "noise." …..

….the science continued to evolve, and still does, even though so many choose to ignore it when it does not fit with predetermined political agendas.

CC:The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of the Environment, and the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources

NEWS UPDATE

Here is an interesting rebuttal / comment from a leading Tree Physiologist

Deaths and Departures at Easter, on a slow news day.

Egyptian Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, 45, who was on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists, suspected of being an Al Qaeda member is reported killed with 2 children and 6 militants in an attack led by helicopter gunships late Wednesday in the remote North Waziristan village of Naghar Kalai, near the Afghan border. (pic FBI)

After the aerial attacks ground forces arrived and took away 7 bodies said local residents.

It is also reported that alleged al-Qaeda explosives expert Abdul Rahman al-Masri was also killed.

Residents of Naghar, a town four miles from Miram Shah, North Waziristan's principal town, said a man in their village who appeared to be of Arab descent was "known to be commanding insurgents in the area".

Pakistan's information minister, Rashid Ahmed, told Reuters Atwah was among the dead, but Pakistani sources would not confirm that.

Atwah is alleged to have had a role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Those blasts killed more than 200 people, including 12 Americans, and Washington has a US$ 5 Mn bounty on his head.

Atwah was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York along with 21 other al-Qaida members, including Osama bin Laden, in connection with the attacks on the embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

A senior military officer Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the top Pakistan army spokesmansaid information about the suspects came from 19 fighters who surrendered in North Waziristan this month.

Google News search Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah result = 495 items

8 year old Hadel Ghabeen, (Hadil Ghaban) whose home in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, was hit by two shells on Monday, was the 15th Palestinian to be killed in Gaza since Friday in shell and air attacks. Israel has been firing about 300 shells a day at Gaza at an estimated cost of more than £125,000 a day, according to the Israeli media.

Yesterday, hundreds of mourners attended a funeral for 8 year old Hadel.

Seven other members of her family were also wounded Rawan Ghaban (18 months); Rana Ghaban (3); Munir Ghaban (4); Amneh Ghaban (9); Ghassan Ghaban (11); Bassam Ghaban (15) and Tahrir Ghaban (17).

The young girl's badly injured body was wrapped in a yellow flag of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and covered in olive branches as it was carried through the town to the local cemetery.

Google News search Hadel Ghabeen result = 1 item

Good News for Easter

Gerald Kaufman, Labour Party MP for Gorton who has been frequently criticized for his views on the Israeli state on BBC Radio 4 called for trials in Britain or before an international tribunal for those accused of killing peace activist Tom Hurndall and filmmaker James Miller in 2003.

"If the Israelis don't agree to either of those then I think we have got to consider economic sanctions against Israel."

But Andrew Dismore, vice chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel group in Parliament, Labour MP for Hendon said such action would achieve little.Curiously Dismore is quoted in the Daily Telegraph 9th April in response to an academics (Prof Ron Geaves) strange notions about how Muslims would view the 7/7 bombings.

"For me, the definition of terrorism is when an innocent human life is lost. These bombings were an act of criminality and terrorism because that loss occurred.

"No motive can justify an act of terrorism. I think this kind of speculation is unhelpful because it is taken seriously by some sections of the community who want to demonise Muslims."

This voice of reason in the Labour Party ( and Friends of Israel etc.,) , who would never wish to demonise Mulsims ..... is also quoted in today's SUN on the news that " MAD mullah Omar Bakri Mohammed's family are leaving Britain to join him" ... "

“This is the news everyone is waiting to hear, so what do they want, flowers on the way out?”

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on January 27th. It's origins lay in Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Anniversary for the Victims of National Socialism) in Germany. Such a day was proposed by Andrew Dismore after a visit he made to Auschwitz and was taken up by Tony Blair in 2000 and adopted by the UN in 2004. Celebrations were originally organised by the Home Office but now are organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, who are now organising for 2007.

Pic (c) Edgweware Times of the multi ethnic A. Dismore MP (2nd from left) at a Hindu temple in (of all places) Golders Green, He is NOT the man on the right with his shopping.

94 years ago today ... we are now re-arranging the deck chairs Mr Bush

More here

LUKoil gets Investment Grade status

Vagit Alekperov's LUKoil became the 2nd nonstate Russian company to receive an investment-grade debt rating from Fitch Ratings, joining mining company Norilsk Nickel.

Fitch rated LUKoil's long-term debt BBB-, the lowest investment grade, Fitch said in a statement Thursday the same as Norilsk and one step below the government and state-run Russian Railways, or RZD.

Inside story today in the Times today how Conoco got 7.5% interest in LUKoil.

Nuking Iran - why it's not such a good idea Mr Bush

Union of Concerned Scientists Flash presentation here - watch then follow the links.