Sandra Finley

2009-06-17 Water. Western Energy Corridor. Citizen ownership and what happens under NAFTA. Infrastructure spending. Privatization. Site C Dam, BC.

Climate, Energy, Nuclear, Resource depletion (water in USA), Trade Deals, PPPs, Integration Canada-U.S., Water No Responses »

Jun 172009

Banksters: Index

INSERT May 31, 2017:

IMPORTANT, in relation to INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING

Scroll down to

(1) CITIZEN OWNERSHIP OF ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

(2) WHAT HAPPENS UNDER NAFTA

(3) BRAD WALL AND THE “WESTERN ENERGY CORRIDOR” (information regarding situation in the U.S., water)

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Why do we need the “largest on the planet” movement of electricity and oil into the U.S.? And just how sustainable is that?

(Brad Wall’s (Premier of Saskatchewan’s) Canada-U.S. Western Energy Corridor as reported in the Star Phoenix and Calgary Herald, June 15th, 2009)

CONTENTS

(-2) CONDITIONING FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL IN SASKATCHEWAN

(-1) MEETING TIMES IN STONY RAPIDS, FOND DU LAC AND WOLLASTON LAKE. SPREAD THE WORD!

(0) PREAMBLE TO SASKATOON MEETING

(1) CITIZEN OWNERSHIP OF ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

(2) WHAT HAPPENS UNDER NAFTA

(3) BRAD WALL AND THE “WESTERN ENERGY CORRIDOR”

(4) STAR PHOENIX REPORT ON SASKATOON UDP PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETING

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(-2) CONDITIONING FOR RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL IN SASKATCHEWAN

REQUEST: PLEASE help get the word to people in Stony Rapids, Fond du Lac and Wollaston Lake. Meetings on the nuclear issue will be in their communities next week (schedule below).

Northern Saskatchewan is a target site for radioactive waste disposal. They should know about the meetings.

IMPORTANT RE RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL. We are in the process of being conditioned to believe that Governments have NO responsibility for where the radioactive waste goes.

Listen to the Florizone video that is played at the beginning of every public consultation meeting (link no longer valid www.saskuranium.ca ). You’ll hear it there and you’ll increasingly see it quoted and printed in the media.

It is, of course, not the case. But they know that through repeating a message over and over again, they can convince people it’s true. (It’s nothing more than applied advertising or brain-washing theory.)

In the video you will hear Florizone say that a COMMUNITY has the responsibility for deciding whether or not it will have a radioactive waste disposal site. Well that’s bunk. Governments have that responsibility. It’s a way of getting around public opposition to radioactive waste sites in their province. It might help get around federal and provincial environmental regulations, I don’t know.

It certainly makes it easier for the industry: they have only one community to ply with money. They target poor communities.

We need to start challenging the assertion that governments do not have responsibility for the siting of radioactive waste disposal.

(The words of Ron Covais (Security & Prosperity Partnership) from Maclean’s Magazine echo in my mind: “We’ve decided not to recommend any things that would require legislative changes,” says Covais, “Because we won’t get anywhere.” The changes will come “by the accretion of hundreds of incremental changes . . “. This is one change that we should not allow to happen!)

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(-1) MEETING TIMES IN STONY RAPIDS, FOND DU LAC AND WOLLASTON LAKE. SPREAD THE WORD!

The remaining public meetings:

Mon Tues, June 22 & 23, Regina, Travelodge South Hotel, Stakeholder Meetings

Public Consultation Meetings:

Wed June 24, Stony Rapids, Community Hall, 7:30-10:00 pm

Thur June 25, Fond du Lac, Band Hall, 1:00-3:30 pm

Thur June 25, Wollaston Lake, LAC Hall, 7:00-9:30 pm

=========

(0) PREAMBLE

PREAMBLE

Between 700 and 800 people attended the Saskatoon Meeting! Wow! And congratulations to everyone.

Karen Weingeist, Dave and company put out 650 copies of an excellent pamphlet full of information, on chairs in the meeting hall beforehand. And handed out hundreds more information sheets. The hours that go into the wording, formatting, printing, copying, folding, cutting and distributing of information is pretty incredible. And these are all such happy people!

The meeting ended a little before 11:00 pm.

I am always bowled over by the variety of valuable insights that come from a group of people. And the “intensity of interest” in the crowd when the topic is critical.

I won’t list all the important points made. (Audio recordings of the meetings are available — link no longer valid www.saskuranium.ca )

Below I picked two points that I think are very important to carry forward into the next phase. In a separate email I’ll address another.

We need to stop nuclear power reactors in Saskatchewan and in Alberta. It doesn’t matter if our reasons are different. It only matters that we organize and use our power to stop them. So that “IF” never happens.

We should clearly understand the “IF”.

/Sandra

==============

(1) CITIZEN OWNERSHIP OF ELECTRICITY SUPPLY

At the Saskatoon meeting, a retired employee of SaskPower pointed out the importance of people owning their own supply of electricity.

Bless him! I wish every person in Saskatchewan and Alberta understood this.

IF NUCLEAR REACTORS GO AHEAD, BRUCE POWER OWNS THE ELECTRICITY.

I can’t emphasize the privatization issue enough. The Governor of California in the wake of their electricity crisis in the year 2000, spells out the lesson very clearly:

Governor Davis said:

“We must face reality: California’s deregulation scheme is a colossal and dangerous failure. It has not lowered consumer prices. And it has not increased supply. In fact, it has resulted in skyrocketing prices, price-gouging, and an unreliable supply of electricity. In short, an energy nightmare . . . we have lost control over our own power. We have surrendered the decisions about where electricity is sold – and for how much – to private companies with only one objective: maximizing unheard-of profits.”

Some see the UDP Report as a business plan for the privatization. The functions of SaskPower would end up at Bruce Power.

The newspaper report circulated to you yesterday tells of Brad Wall spearheading the cross-border “Canada-U.S. Western Energy Corridor“.

The blue print is in B.C. In 2003 the Campbell Government legislated changes to B.C. Hydro. No one noticed until it was too late. As I understand it, under the new legislation, B.C. Hydro BUYS electricity for the people of B.C.. Its role as the owner of the facilities that produce electricity, the public ownership of the electricity supply, ends. They get Private Power Producers – privately-owned hydro-electric dams with private access to sections of their rivers. This is different from dispersed, locally-owned wind and solar power generation that the public utility buys.

The danger with the PPP’s in B.C. is that the large corporations wait until large and small PPP’s are in place, get it past people, then they walk in and buy up the smaller outfits who are happy to sell because they get paid a bundle and can retire.

The safeguards we used to have, anti-combines legislation and Foreign Investment Review no longer exist. The obstacles for the corporations, strengthened during the Trudeau years, are gone. The large corporations can own and control the supply of electricity, just like they own oil. Alcan already owns the dam and section of the river at Kitimat. There are some other similar examples.

==========

(2) WHAT HAPPENS UNDER NAFTA

One fellow at the Saskatoon meeting provided the NAFTA chapter that applies to sales of electricity. By NAFTA rules, local Saskatchewan (and Alberta) people would have to pay the same price charged in the U.S. market into which the electricity is sold. (Both Manitoba and B.C. sell electricity to the U.S. – I would like to confirm that the NAFTA rule applies and is enforced?)

Read yesterday’s (June 15th) newspaper report (see #4 below) on the effort spearheaded by Brad Wall, the “Western Energy Corridor”. There is no doubt but that the part of the electricity that is not going for tar sands production is headed for the U.S.

Bruce Power is to own the nuclear power plants. Its job is to make money. The doom coming down the tracks in the U.S. means they will be increasingly desperate for electricity. The California electricity experience, according to the Governor, in 2000 was “skyrocketing prices, price-gouging” and “unheard-of profits”.

Remember the examples of the salaries received by the executives of privatized crown corporations, Cameco and PotashCorp, sent in an earlier email. These corporations have no qualms about anything.

Brad Wall is “spearheading” the Western (Canada-U.S.) Energy Corridor, the “largest on the planet”, “one that develops both non-renewable (tar sands) and clean-energy (nuclear) options.”

Why do we need the “largest on the planet” movement of electricity and oil into the U.S.? It’s because the state of California alone has a population the size of Canada. There is a 50/50 chance that their electricity supply will be gone by 2017 with falling water levels behind dams. 30 million Americans without electricity because they have abused their water supply (we do exactly the same thing). I don’t even want to think what comes next after the electricity.

But we’ve talked about it before. Peter Lougheed, former Premier of Alberta, laid it on the line in his letter published in the Globe and Mail a few years ago. Old-timers in our network will remember: “The Americans will be aggressively after our water in 3 to 5 years. We had better be prepared.” He used the word “aggressively”. I have conveniently forgotten the year in which he said it.

He is wrong about one thing. The Americans won’t be “aggressively” after our water. Brad Wall is happy to hand it over, if his spearheading of the Western Energy Corridor is any indication. Mind you, I suspect he is just picking up where the last government left off. These negotiations take place over time.

Nuclear reactors and tar sands. They require water. Brad Wall should be required to paddle the Saskatchewan River. And read the scientific reports. There isn’t an abundance of water in the River, in spite of the assurances we are given about cross-border water agreements. The Americans left the management of the rivers in the hands of government, to disastrous consequence. We should take heed.

The Western (Canada-U.S.) Energy Corridor, the “largest on the planet” is just the opening move. . . . And yes, as reported in the Globe & Mail, dear Brad will be a wonderful prime minister, in the event that Stephen Harper can’t execute the agenda. Brad Wall (maybe not, he’s not bilingual – what a godsend).

I would really like to know who started that rumour about Brad, Prime Minister-in-waiting and got it published. It will be repeated and repeated until we come to believe it. He would be perfect for the corporate intentions, not only for the “largest on the planet energy corridor”, but for the next urgently-needed trench for the “product” water.

The 1972 map of water diversions from Canada to the U.S. shows them bringing the water down from Lake Athabasca along the Sask-Manitoba border to the U.S. through a series of dams that include the HighGate (North Sask River near North Battleford) (which we fought down) and Meridian (South Sask River near the Sask-Alberta border)(which we fought down back around 2000).

People are becoming more agreeable to the building of dams on the Churchill River for power generation; it is better than nuclear. But we should be careful. ANY dam that might become part of water diversion should not be built!

I am with those who think it possible (PROBABLE) that the Rafferty-Alameda Dam adjacent to the U.S. border in Saskatchewan is conveniently placed for water diversion into the States. The Rafferty-Alameda has its own story that does not make sense. Except in that context.

At one time the idea of the water diversions seemed silly. But when you know what’s happening in the western U.S. today, they don’t seem so silly. And when Premier Brad Wall (Saskatchewan) talks of the “cross-border Western Energy Corridor” that will be the largest on the planet I get nervous. A grandiose scheme for water diversion seems not far behind.

But I think Brad has a problem: he didn’t see us coming!

==============

(3) BRAD WALL AND THE “WESTERN ENERGY CORRIDOR”

Approximately, this is what I said or intended to say to the UDP Meeting last night in Saskatoon:

(Many of you know this from earlier emails. Just skip it!)

(My name.) I have run an email information network for 10 years. I started working on water. I have been very interested in matters of governance, what lies behind the decisions being made? For example, we worked on GMO wheat. Why were we fighting it when no one wanted it? It wasn’t beneficial for farmers, or the public. So who is it for?

What’s behind nuclear reactors in Saskatchewan? (I then introduced and read from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, June 15th, page D8.

“Premiers, governors promote Canada-U.S. energy corridor

Western premiers and U.S. governors on Sunday hailed their push to develop a cross-border Western Energy Corridor that will be the largest on the planet and one that develops both non-renewable and clean-energy options. Spearheaded by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall” and so on.

Note that the “non-renewable” option Wall speaks about is tar sands. And the “clean-energy” for the Corridor is nuclear.

A private group, MATL (Montana Alberta Tie Ltd) is trying to build a high-power transmission line from Lethbridge south to Montana. The UDP Report says we will export electricity to Alberta. But they are building nuclear reactors in Alberta, too. So what’s behind it?

As the water behind a dam goes down, the ability to produce hydro-electricity is lost. Rivers in the western United States are running out of water. The situation is very serious. But people can make a lot of money by selling electricity from Canada into the market for electricity in the U.S.

That’s the first part of “what’s behind it”?. The second part is that we are running out of oil. The development of the tar sands in Saskatchewan offers the opportunity to make more money. The relationship between the nuclear and oil companies is symbiotic.

Someone here tonight said there is an estimated 8 years left in the natural gas supply needed to heat tar sands. The oil companies HAVE to have electricity to heat up the tar sands. They have to have the nuclear plants. So that’s the second part of “what’s behind it?”. Both reasons are caused by resource depletion.

As we know from the example of the cod fishery, the absolute wrong response is to do the things that only accelerate the depletion of the resource. You have to get off the resource. We have to move to conservation and alternative energy sources. Get off oil and cherish our water supply.

There is a second matter: (I talked about the lie in the Florizone video, that we solved the problem of acid rain. A convenient lie for the oil and nuclear corporations, a great disservice to the people of Saskatchewan. If we don’t understand the true situation with acid rain in northern Saskatchewan, we can’t make right decisions. If we are going to kill the North with acid rain, we should at least know that is what we are doing.) Ignorance is not a defence.

For Florizone to collaborate in pedaling statements that contravene known fact is so repugnant.

=================

(4) STAR PHOENIX REPORT ON SASKATOON UDP PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS

Meeting hears call for caution

More study required on Saskatchewan’s nuclear future: forum

By Jeremy Warren, The StarPhoenixJune 16, 2009

NUCLEAR ISSUE ATTRACTS CROWd: Dan Perrins, consultation chair of the Future of Uranium in Saskatchewan forums, addresses a crowd of more than 750 people during Monday night’s meeting in Saskatoon

NUCLEAR ISSUE ATTRACTS CROWd: Dan Perrins, consultation chair of the Future of Uranium in Saskatchewan forums, addresses a crowd of more than 750 people during Monday night’s meeting in Saskatoon Photograph by: Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenix, The StarPhoenix

A majority of the more than 750 people who packed a Saskatoon convention room Monday night for the latest Future of Uranium meeting rejected any movement on the Uranium Development Partnership (UDP) report that recommended the development of nuclear energy in Saskatchewan.

During an open mic portion of the nearly three-hour meeting, University of Saskatchewan sessional lecturer Chris Jensen asked the crowd to raise a hand for one of two options: Do you support moving forward with the UDP report recommendations, or do you want to halt the report until an impartial study is completed?

A few raised hands were sprinkled across the large, hot convention room at the Travelodge Hotel for the first option. A forest of hands was raised for the second.

The consultation meetings — Saskatoon marked the ninth — are gathering public input on the UDP report that recommended several ways to develop nuclear energy on top of Saskatchewan’s uranium industry.

Ann Coxworth, the first speaker of the evening, has been with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society for 22 years, but her first career was as a nuclear chemist extracting plutonium from spent nuclear reactor fuel

“I hope now I can avoid the label of an ill-informed fear mongerer,”Coxworth said, to the first of many rounds of applause for nuclear development opponents.

Coxworth was invited to sit on the UDP board, but she declined, she said.

The mandate and composition of the board was a set-up to push for nuclear development, she added.

“(The partnership) was charged with how — not whether — Saskatchewan can develop the nuclear industry,” said Coxworth.

“It’s like a vegetarian being invited to a meeting to decide whether to serve beef or pork for dinner.

“It’s not the job of promoters to focus on the weak parts of their product.”

Anna Bigland-Pritchard, a 16-year-old student at Borden School, told the audience the Saskatchewan government is not engaging youth on nuclear issues.

“We’re not getting properly educated at school and we’re left to research the topics ourselves,” said Bigland-Pritchard. “Teenagers don’t care about newspapers or the news — they’re watching MTV.”

Today’s children will deal with the negative effects of nuclear power, she said.

“I might have to deal with the mess left by decisions made today by the adults here tonight,” said Bigland-Pritchard.

Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce CEO Steve McLellan made his organization’s pro-nuclear opinions known.

“We knew years ago that Saskatchewan needed houses, and we built. We know we need nurses and we’re trying to fix that,” said McLellan. “We now know our businesses and homes need more power. We support the UDP’s report recommendations.”

After hearing at several meetings that people felt there was a lack of alternative viewpoints in the UDP report, consultation chair Dan Perrins added to the agenda an open mic session.

Previously, those attending the meetings would break out into groups for facilitators to take down their comments for Perrins’ final report.

But it wasn’t easy to hear other criticisms Monday night. One pro- nuclear speaker was shouted down by an anti-nuclear supporter before a moderator could step in. While there have been similar incidents at past meetings, most have been cordial, said Perrins.

“Everyone should feel free to speak their minds, whether they support (development) or not,” he said in an interview after the open mic session.

The UDP report recommended the construction of a 3,000-megawatt reactor and other nuclear developments, such as a research reactor that could also produce medical isotopes.

The forums move to La Ronge tonight, before heading to Regina for two days of stakeholder meetings beginning June 22.

Perrins announced Monday three new meetings in northern Saskatchewan.

On June 24, the forum stops in Stony Rapids, before heading to Fond du Lac and Wollaston Lake on June 25.

jjwarren AT sp.canwest.com

2009-06-15 Premiers, governors promote Canada-U.S. energy corridor. Brad Wall co-chair, “largest on the planet” Canada-U.S. Western Energy Corridor

Climate, Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT?, Energy, Nuclear, Resource depletion (water in USA), Water No Responses »

Jun 152009

Thanks to Herman who writes: Today’s Star Phoenix page D8, nicely buried on the back of the Classifieds section.

– – – – – – – –

I guess they can at least say they published it!

Note, keep in mind when reading: this is cross-border energy export, Canada to U.S. The American Southwest is dependent upon the Colorado River for hydro-electricity generated by the Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams on the Colorado River. The science from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography: a 50/50 chance that by 2017 water levels will have fallen to the point that the turbines will not be turning.

/Sandra

Canwest News Service June 15, 2009

Spearheaded by Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the initiative could open new markets to the three Prairie provinces, which are all major energy producers in both renewables and fossil fuels.

Wall, Alberta’s Ed Stelmach and Manitoba’s Gary Doer — all in Park City, Utah, for the Western Governors’ Association annual conference — met Sunday with state political leaders to explore the potential for a broader energy relationship.

“The western part of North America has this great swath of both renewables and non-renewables in terms of energy sources and huge opportunities around sustainable energy development, but we need to be co-operating,” Wall told Canwest News Service in Park City, a mountain resort community located about 50 kilometres east of Salt Lake City.

“We know that there’s an interest in the part of the consuming states perhaps on the West Coast for more renewables.”

Stelmach said the western governors are very supportive of the corridor concept and recognize there’s a lot of trade possibilities. Energy development is key for global competitiveness, job creation and economic growth, he said, so the entire western region stands to benefit.

“They know that we have an excellent opportunity as neighbours on the North American continent to co-operate,” Stelmach said. “There definitely is an interest.”

Schweitzer, vice-chair of the Western Governors’ Association and a lead point man for the group on the energy file, went even farther. He declared the oilsands — the second largest proven oil reserves in the world — critically important to the U.S.’s energy security and a major component for a powerhouse energy corridor.

“The most important energy corridor on the planet is no longer the Persian Gulf. It runs from the oilsands, Fort McMurray to Port Arthur, Texas,” Schweitzer said. “A large part of energy independence is going to be dependent upon developing the oilsands.”

The corridor is home to some of the best wind and solar resources on the planet, he noted, and also contains massive coal and natural gas deposits, as well as valuable uranium in Saskatchewan. He also highlighted a new pipeline being built south of the border to ship oilsands from Alberta across the U.S. that will contain about five per cent of all the oil consumed in America.

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter agreed, saying “it’s both western parts of Canada and the United States that can play a role in energy independence.”

Wall stressed a major benefit of an energy corridor partnership is cost savings and shared knowledge on the research and technology side.

“Heaven forbid we all test the same technologies. We ought to be sharing information and peering over our respective fences,” he said.

The backing of U.S. governors on oilsands development came a day before Wall and Stelmach are scheduled to meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, one of U.S. President Barack Obama’s top officials in developing America’s energy and climate change plans.

Chu has also lauded the potential of the oilsands, saying recently it’s an important piece of U.S. energy security. Much like Stelmach’s Alberta government, he also believes technology is key to reducing the environmental footprint on land, air and water.

(CALGARY HERALD)

2009-06-03 Nuke Waste will go where??!

Radioactive waste No Responses »

Jun 032009

Note: (1) NWMO = Nuclear Waste Management Organization, their website: http://www.nwmo.ca/

(2) (below) Gordon refers to fact that Quebec Legislature prohibited import of radioactive waste for storage in Quebec. Not everyone will know that THE HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE ACT for Manitoba was assented to in 1987. It makes it illegal to import radioactive waste into Manitoba.

—– Original Message —–

From: Gordon Edwards

Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 8:27 AM

For those of you who do not read French (below):

This article in Le Devoir is amazing. And encouraging.

It refers to NWMO’s plans for siting a permanent nuclear waste repository in one of the four “nuclear provinces” of New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.

“It will never happen in Quebec”, says the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife, Claude Béchard, responding on Wednesday June 3 to an article published Monday June 1 in which an 11-year project for siting a high-level radioactive waste repository in the Blanc-Sablon region of Quebec. The proposed project would take irradiated nuclear fuel from all of Canada’s nuclear reactors and from overseas, receiving these wastes by boat from the Atlantic Ocean (thereby avoiding extensive road or rail travel) and reprocessing them to recover the plutonium and other fissile material before re-solidifying and storing the remainder….

He refers to the fact that his party supported a motion that was adopted last autumn by Quebec’s National Assembly opposing any form of import of nuclear wastes into Quebec.

– – – – — – – – – – – —

Béchard ne veut pas des déchets nucléaires venus d’ailleurs http://www.ledevoir.com/2009/06/03/253250.html

Louis-Gilles Francoeur

Édition du mercredi 03 juin 2009

«Ça ne se fera pas au Québec!» C’est en ces termes qu’a réagi hier le ministre des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, Claude Béchard, au projet Securad de stockage de déchets nucléaires dans la région de Blanc-Sablon, sur la Basse-Côte-Nord, exposé hier par Le Devoir.

Le ministre a ajouté en entrevue téléphonique que le Québec n’a ni le besoin ni le goût d’accueillir un site d’entreposage à long terme des déchets nucléaires du reste du Canada et de l’étranger.

«Avec seulement 3 % des déchets nucléaires canadiens, je ne vois pas pourquoi on écoperait des déchets du reste du pays», précise le ministre, qui rappelle que son parti a aussi appuyé la motion adoptée par l’Assemblée nationale l’automne dernier pour s’opposer à toute forme d’importation de déchets nucléaires au Québec.

Alors, pourquoi Hydro-Québec siège-t-elle toujours au sein de la Société de gestion des déchets nucléaires du Canada? «Parce qu’on veut être à la table pour voir ce qui s’en vient, affirme le ministre. Hydro-Québec a le mandat d’informer les autres partenaires et de leur dire qu’avec 3 % des déchets du pays, on n’ira pas très loin» avec un projet de stockage en territoire québécois.

Le ministre québécois estime que les méthodes de stockage d’Hydro-Québec à la centrale nucléaire de Gentilly-2 sont sécuritaires et permettent d’attendre qu’un site de stockage définitif soit construit quelque part au Canada.

Mais la loi fédérale, reconnaît Claude Béchard, impose à Hydro-Québec de participer au processus de sélection d’un site et de verser 4 millions par année en plus des 20 millions versés initialement pour mettre en marche le processus. L’Ontario a initialement versé 500 millions et sa contribution annuelle s’élève à 100 millions.

Claude Béchard est cependant conscient «qu’on ne peut pas empêcher le fédéral» d’examiner ou même d’implanter un projet de stockage au Québec en raison de la prépondérance constitutionnelle des lois fédérales. Mais au plan politique, ce serait une autre affaire.

Le ministre se déclare par ailleurs très sceptique quant à la possibilité de voir le gouvernement Williams de Terre-Neuve, une province qui n’a aucun équipement nucléaire, accepter ce projet chez lui, comme le promoteur du projet Securad l’a laissé entendre en entrevue hier au Devoir.

En effet, l’ingénieur Guy Arbour a indiqué que son projet de s’établir sur la Basse-Côte-Nord «était toujours actif». Il précise que le projet est présentement en phase de financement et d’examen d’une campagne d’information pour obtenir éventuellement l’adhésion de la région à la suite d’un débat qu’il espère rigoureux et objectif, compte tenu de l’importance des retombées économiques pour cette région.

Il regrette que le Devoir ait publié un extrait d’un document de son groupe, qui datait de quelques années, dit-il, et dans lequel «on était optimiste sur une entente prochaine avec les maires». Le projet Securad étant au ralenti depuis deux ans, dans l’attente de l’accélération du processus fédéral, Guy Arbour dit craindre de perdre prématurément l’appui des maires, qu’il espérait obtenir sur la foi d’études plus complètes.

Le p.-d.g de Securad évoque aussi la possibilité de transférer son projet du côté de Terre-Neuve, dans la région du lac Melville, si les élus québécois de la Basse-Côte-Nord n’en veulent pas chez eux, comme devait l’affirmer plus tard hier après-midi le président du Conseil des maires de la région, Randy Jones, maire de Gros-Mécatina.

Selon le maire Randy Jones, «jamais les maires de la région n’ont appuyé de près ou de loin ce projet qui, en réalité, ne nous semble pas très sérieux, compte tenu du flou des réponses que nous avons obtenues à nos questions. Oui, les promoteurs du projet nous appellent souvent, mais on ne répond plus. Ils nous ont même invités à visiter des centrales nucléaires en Ontario. Mais aucun maire d’ici n’a accepté l’invitation. On a assez de problèmes avec notre eau potable, nos eaux usées et l’absence de routes pour ne pas ajouter les déchets nucléaires en plus. On est une région de pêcheurs, et voir des navires bourrés de matériel irradié passer par ici n’intéresse personne. On ne va pas risquer de contaminer le golfe et de perdre le plus beau coin de la province. On ne veut pas devenir la fosse septique du reste de la planète. Je ne veux pas parler pour nos voisins de Terre-Neuve, mais je ne pense pas que le comité de réception sera meilleur de ce côté-là.»

Quant au Parti québécois et au Bloc, ils ont écrit tous les deux ces derniers jours à la Société fédérale de gestion des déchets nucléaires, qui avait transporté son matériel d’information hier à Trois-Rivières, pour faire état de leur opposition la plus totale au projet.

Certes, reconnaît Scott McKay, porte-parole du PQ en matière d’environnement, la prépondérance du fédéral en matière d’énergie nucléaire est difficile à contourner au plan juridique. Mais si Ottawa amorçait l’examen d’un site de stockage au Québec, ce serait, dit-il, un défi inacceptable aux pouvoirs du Québec et de ses régions de planifier elles-mêmes l’aménagement du territoire.

À l’opposition des écologistes et des anti-nucléaires, dont Le Devoir faisait état hier, s’est ajouté hier celle de la députée de Duplessis, Lorraine Richard, qui promet «une vive opposition» si le processus fédéral envisage quelque scénario de stockage pour la Basse-Côte-Nord.

2009-05-29 Countries destroying cluster bomb stockpiles. Canada preparing to ratify treaty. U.S. not signing the Treaty. Who runs the U.S.?

Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials) No Responses »

May 292009

Lockheed Martin says that it no longer manufactures cluster munitions. Canada is signatory to the international treaty to ban cluster munitions and to use economic sanctions in support of the ban.

In blatant disregard of our legal obligations we have enriched Lockheed Martin Corporation – – also in spite of Canadian and International Law that prohibits land mines (Lockheed Martin also a manufacturer of land mines).

See postings 2008-07-24 Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of cluster bombs. Other nations taking action against them. What’s wrong with us? and

2008-12-08 Canada signs international treaty to ban cluster bombs. The treaty conditions and moral authority require us to dis-invest from Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of cluster munitions.

The most recent update:

http://lm.icbl.org/index.php/publications/display?act=submit&pqs_year=2009&pqs_type=cm&pqs_report=canada

Canada signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. In a February 2009 letter to Human Rights Watch, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Canadian officials are preparing the documentation so that Cabinet can consider ratification at the earliest possible date.” The letter noted that all necessary domestic legislation must be in place before ratification can take place.^[1]

———————————————

Cluster bombs destroyed before treaty ratification * Ratification likely this year, hopes U.S. will sign

http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSLT1012946._CH_.2400

by Jonathan Lynn Published on Friday, May 29, 2009 by Reuters AlertNet

Countries Destroying Cluster Bomb Stockpiles: Report http://lm.icbl.org/index.php/publications/display?url=cm/2009/

GENEVA – Several of the 96 states that have so far signed a treaty to ban cluster bombs have started to destroy their stockpiles of the deadly weapons even before the treaty is ratified, an advocacy group said on Friday.

Supporters of the ban on the munitions that have killed or maimed tens of thousands of people said they hope the United States, which remains outside the pact along with Russia, China and other powers, will shortly sign up.

“Only a few years ago the destruction of these stockpiled cluster munitions would have been unthinkable, but there has been a sea change of opinion against this weapon,” said Steve Goose of non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch.

“In an incredibly short period of time, many governments have moved from staunchly defending the need for cluster munitions to completely rejecting them,” he said in a statement on the launch of a report on efforts to ban the weapons.

Goose said Spain had already completed the destruction of its stockpile, and Colombia was close to doing so. Canada and half a dozen European countries were also in the process.

The treaty was signed in Oslo last December by over 90 countries after a campaign to outlaw cluster bombs.

The bombs contain scores or hundreds of submunitions or “bomblets” that blanket wide areas and which may explode years later, posing lethal danger to civilians especially children.

Campaigners for the ban were pleased 35 former users, producers, stockpilers and exporters of the weapons, including Britain and France, have signed up.

Signatories include 20 members of the NATO alliance as well as countries where the weapons have been used, such as Afghanistan, Laos and Lebanon.

The treaty will come into force six months after it has been ratified by 30 countries.

So far seven countries — Austria, Ireland, Laos, Mexico, Norway, Sierra Leone and the Vatican — have ratified the treaty and Goose said he was confident the remainder of the 30 countries would follow suit by the end of the year.

Campaigners hope President Barack Obama will sign up the United States, which has already banned exports of the weapons and currently plans to ban them from 2018.

Of countries staying away, Brazil, which cites the economic benefit of producing and selling the weapons, has been a big disappointment, said Goose.

(For a FACTBOX on cluster munitions click on [ID:LT581906]) (For the full report go to: http://www.lm.icbl.org/cm/2009 [1] )

2009-5-11 The Other Missile Defense; Lockheed’s PAC-3

Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials) No Responses »

May 112009

From: Global Network

THE OTHER MISSILE DEFENSE (Link no longer valid)

While in Korea for our Global Network annual conference last month we were taken to Pyeongtaek where the US is dramatically expanding a military base. There we were shown nearly a dozen mobile PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability) launchers parked just beyond the razor-wired fence. We also learned more about the US deployments of the PAC-3 “missile defense” system throughout Japan.

Lockheed Martin describes their PAC-3 system as “the world’s most advanced, capable and powerful terminal air defense missile. It defeats the entire threat: tactical ballistic missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction, cruise missiles and aircraft. The PAC-3 Missile is a high velocity interceptor that defeats incoming targets by direct, body-to-body [kinetic] impact.”

The PAC-3 system, along with THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, are the new “layered look” for the Pentagon’s missile defense program. The mobile THAAD, designed to shoot down short-and medium-range ballistic missiles, are also being heavily deployed in Japan and South Korea along with PAC-3 in order to serve as key elements of US military strategy aimed at China.

Add the Navy’s Aegis destroyer, also outfitted with missile defense interceptors and being deployed in the Asian-Pacific region, into the scheme and you get the full picture of this theater-wide program to take out “the enemy” retaliatory missiles after a US first-strike attack.

In addition to Lockheed Martin, the Raytheon Company, based in Tewksbury, MA., also plays a key role in building PAC-3.

The PAC-3 program is coordinated for the Pentagon by the Army’s Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

Currently the US is deploying the PAC-3 in South Korea, Japan, Iraq, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Kuwait, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Taiwan, and Israel. The Pentagon has also recently signed a deal to deploy PAC-3 in Poland.

Turkey has also recently shown interest in acquiring a similar system but has been talking with competitors of the US weapons industry about buying the technology from them. However, Washington has been pressuring Ankara to consider potential “NATO interoperability problems” that could occur should Turkey opt for a non-Western solution. Subtle arm twisting you might say.

The Hamamatsu City, Japan Human Rights and Peace group (pictured above) has been organizing to protest the deployment of PAC-3 at a base near their community. In one of their reports they say, “In a real battle, PAC-3 is used under the united-command of Japan and the US which now rules the space. Such usage of PAC-3 is in violation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution which prohibits collective defense and warfare. It is true that the real target of PAC-3 is Article 9. We are living in such a dangerous situation. However, to change our time from one of global war to one of global peace, we would like to learn from history and pursue such movements as to prevent Hamamatsu from becoming a military stronghold ever again.”

Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Brunswick, ME 04011; (207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com

2009-04-20 U.S. cancels agreements by which Lockheed Martin does veteran benefits

Lockheed Martin, War Economy (includes Cdn Census & Trials) No Responses »

Apr 202009

Note: Congressman Dennis Kucinich does very good work. He spoke albeit briefly at the Washington Conference I attended in June 2010 to see what the thinking of activists in the U.S. is. He is behind this achievement.

From: Nicole

Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 9:11:59 PM
Subject: Victory against privatization

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/04/20-13

Kucinich: Victory Against Privatization

DFAS takes away Contract from Lockheed Martin, Government to Perform Services

WASHINGTON – April 20 – Following a relentless effort by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) to challenge the Bush administration’s efforts to privatize Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) jobs since 2001, DFAS today announced that that it will cancel agreements with Lockheed Martin and employ government workers to perform all areas of retroactive pay and benefits for veterans.

“This is a great day for veterans and a victory for government oversight. This decision will finally end the six-year nightmare of privatization of retired and annuitant pay services that resulted in the degradation of services to veterans and an increased cost to taxpayers. I thank Director McKay and Comptroller Robert Hale for their choice to serve veterans first, rather than perpetuate a lucrative contract with the nation’s largest military contractor,” stated Kucinich

Lockheed’s performance of the retired and annuitant pay functions of DFAS was characterized by mishandling, delay, poor quality and exorbitant charges. An investigation by Chairman Kucinich’s Domestic Policy Subcommittee published in July 2008 revealed that 8,763 disabled veterans died before their cases were even reviewed for eligibility in a program that allowed retired veterans with severe combat-related disabilities to receive concurrent disability and retirement pay. Almost 30,000 veterans were denied the benefit based solely on the determination of Lockheed employees with about six weeks of training.

At a Subcommittee hearing, then-director Zack Gaddy promised Chairman Kucinich a thorough audit of the VA Retro program, and correction of the underlying problems. DFAS’ announcement today stems from that assurance.

Lockheed is the world’s largest military contractor, with almost all of its revenue coming from the U.S. government. Aside from payroll and other services, Lockheed also manufactures the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning and the THAAD missile defense system.

“I am very pleased that DFAS will once again ensure quality service by operating this program ‘in house’ with trained and qualified staff. I hope that this experiment in privatization will demonstrate to other agencies the costs, both financial and otherwise, of outsourcing the responsibilities of government,” stated Kucinich. “As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I will continue to review privatization efforts of the Bush Administration.”

—
“Human kind has not woven the web of life. We are but a thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

Chief Seattle?

2009-04-06 $75 million. Pfizer settles Nigerian drug case out of court (criminal charges for death of children)

Tuberculosis No Responses »

Apr 062009

NOTE 1: In 2007 the news of the criminal charges against Pfizer (for murder, as far as I am concerned) was not heard in western countries. It was eclipsed by a same-day scare-story about tuberculosis, see: http://sandrafinley.ca/?p=4369 2007-06-01 Tuberculosis story improbable ?? Same day, Nigerian Government brings criminal charges against Pfizer.

NOTE 2: The book and movie, “The Constant Gardener”, is based on what Pfizer did to the Nigerian children. In the book the drug is for drug-resistant tuberculosis. In Nigeria the drug was trialled during an outbreak of meningitis. BUT (the last short piece) also with a shot at tuberculosis. (I suspect that the big prize would have been if it had worked for TB.)

NOTE 3: #1 can be skipped. I kept it for a couple of not critical details.

CONTENTS

(1) SUMMARY OF THE COURT CASE BY A BLOGGER

(2) PFIZER TO PAY £50m AFTER DEATHS OF NIGERIAN CHILDREN IN DRUG TRIAL EXPERIMENT, APRIL 6, 2009, THE INDEPENDENT

(3) US PHARMACEUTICAL GIANT PFIZER SLAPPED WITH CRIMINAL CHARGES IN NIGERIA OVER NOTORIOUS CLINICAL TRIAL IT CONDUCTED ON CHILDREN June 01, 2007, The Independent

(4) PFIZER’S TRIAL DRUG, TROVAN, ALSO INTENDED AS TREATMENT FOR DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS

= = = = = = = = =

(1) SUMMARY OF THE COURT CASE BY A BLOGGER

Pfizer settles Nigerian drug case out of court

http://blogs.nature.com/news/2009/04/pfizer_settles_nigerian_drug_c.html

Posted by Daniel Cressey

Pfizer has apparently agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit over a drug trial it ran in Nigeria.

According to media reports, lawyers for the pharma giant and Nigeria’s Kano state agreed an out of court settlement over the trial of a meningitis drug, which the state alleges killed 11 children and left others seriously injured. Pfizer has denied its product caused the deaths (Link no longer valid) (Pharma Times).

Reuters says sources told it last Wednesday that the settlement would come to near $75 million, with $30 million going to Kano state, $35 million to victims and $10 million going on legal fees.

The Independent presents some of the back story in its coverage . . . (below).

(Link no longer valid) Bloomberg says Nigeria’s federal government also sued Pfizer for $7 billion in 2007, although the BBC says this case could be dropped as a result of the new settlement.

= == = == = = = = =

(2) PFIZER TO PAY £50m AFTER DEATHS OF NIGERIAN CHILDREN IN DRUG TRIAL EXPERIMENT, APRIL 6, 2009, THE INDEPENDENT

Out of court settlement in the case that inspired ‘The Constant Gardener’

By Daniel Howden, Africa Correspondent

Monday 06 April 2009

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/pfizer-to-pay-16350m-after-deaths-of-nigerian-children-in-drug-trial-experiment-1663402.html

A divorce case was all that passed for excitement at Richard P Altschuler’s “kinda small” lawyer’s office in West Haven, Connecticut, when the phone rang nine years ago. On the other end of the line, a world away in the heat of Nigeria, was Etigwe Uwo, a young lawyer with “an incredible story about Pfizer”. The Lagos attorney was going to take on the largest pharmaceutical company in the world in an unprecedented class action pitting African parents against an American corporate giant. And he needed help.

Mr Etigwe had chosen Mr Altschuler because, back in 1979, the Connecticut lawyer had successfully defended a friend of the Nigerian. The unlikely pair were about to embark on a marathon journey into the world of “big pharma”. Nine years on and their efforts have finally been rewarded with a reported $75m (£50m) settlement, the terms of which are likely to be released this week.

If it sounds like the script of a Hollywood blockbuster that’s because it was this story that prompted John Le Carre to write The Constant Gardener, according to Mr Altschuler.

In real life it was to Nigeria, not Kenya, that Pfizer turned. In 1996, the company needed a human trial for what it hoped would be a pharmaceutical “blockbuster”, a broad spectrum antibiotic that could be taken in tablet form. The US-based company sent a team of its doctors into the Nigerian slum city of Kano in the midst of an appaling meningitis epidemic to perform what it calls a “humanitarian mission”. However the accusers claim it was an unlicensed medical trial on critically-ill children.

A team of Pfizer doctors reached the Nigerian camp just as the outbreak, which killed at least 11,000 people, was peaking. They set themselves up within metres of a medical station run by the aid group Médecins Sans Frontières, which was dispensing proven treatments to ease the epidemic.

From the crowd that had gathered at the Kano Infectious Diseases Hospital, 200 sick children were picked. Half were given doses of the experimental Pfizer drug called Trovan and the others were treated with a proven antibiotic from a rival company.

Eleven of the children died and many more, it is alleged, later suffered serious side-effects ranging from organ failure to brain damage. But with meningitis, cholera and measles still raging and crowds still queueing at the fence of the camp, the Pfizer team packed up after two weeks and left.

That would probably have been an end to the story if it weren’t for Pfizer employee, Juan Walterspiel. About 18 months after the medical trial he wrote a letter to the then chief executive of the company, William Steere, saying that the trial had “violated ethical rules”. Mr Walterspiel was fired a day later for reasons “unrelated” to the letter, insists Pfizer.

The company claims only five children died after taking Trovan and six died after receiving injections of the certified drug Rocephin. The pharmaceutical giant says it was the meningitis that harmed the children and not their drug trial. But did the parents know that they were offering their children up for an experimental medical trial?

“No,” Nigerian parent Malam Musa Zango said. He claims his son Sumaila, who was then 12 years old, was left deaf and mute after taking part in the trial. But Pfizer has denied this and says consent had been given by the Nigerian state and the families of those treated. It produced a letter of permission from a Kano ethics committee. The letter turned out to have been backdated and the committee set up a year after the original medical trial.

At stake at one point last year was more than $8bn in punitive damages being sought in a string of cases, as well as potential jail terms in Nigeria for several Pfizer staff. “There has been a complex web of cases with proceedings in Connecticut, New York, Lagos, Abuja and Kano,” Mr Etigwe said. “The strategy of big companies when they are dealing with smaller opponents is to stretch the process, to overwhelm us until we are ready to accept whatever they want to offer.” Trovan never became the blockbuster that Pfizer had hoped for and it is no longer in production. The EU has banned the drug and it has been withdrawn from sale in the US.

It appears that Pfizer has finally ended the public relations nightmare with Friday’s settlement. But the Trovan battle may not be over yet.

At the end of January 2009, a New York appeal court ruled Mr Etigwe and Mr Altschuler’s case could be heard in the US. The Connecticut attorney says it could still go ahead. “Our case is firmly embedded in the US … so a Nigerian settlement does not foreclose our case. But this is very good news. I’m glad we remained the constant gardener and could see this come to fruition.”

= = = == = = = = = = = = = = = =

(3) US PHARMACEUTICAL GIANT PFIZER SLAPPED WITH CRIMINAL CHARGES IN NIGERIA OVER NOTORIOUS CLINICAL TRIAL IT CONDUCTED ON CHILDREN June 01, 2007, The Independent

http://www.commondreams.org/contactingus.htm

Friday, June 01, 2007

Published on Thursday, May 31, 2007 by the Independent/UK

Drugs Giant Faces Criminal Charges Over Clinical Trial

by Andrew Gumbel

LOS ANGELES – The US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has been slapped with criminal charges in Nigeria over a notorious clinical trial it conducted on children during a meningitis epidemic a decade ago. Patients became unwitting guinea pigs for a new, untested antibiotic and many of them
either died or were left with permanent disabilities.

Pfizer and its representatives will be called to account at hearings due to begin next month in the Nigerian state of Kano, where public anger over the clinical trial – and the assurances of any pharmaceutical company – remains so high that the local population won’t even trust the Nigerian government to immunise their children against polio.

The episode, which has already led to one unsuccessful suit in the US courts, was the inspiration for John Le Carré’s novel The Constant Gardener and is frequently held up as an instance of scientific inquiry gone shockingly awry.

The Nigerian authorities say Pfizer researchers selected 200 children and infants from a crowded epidemic camp in Kano in 1996 and gave about half of them an untested antibiotic called Trovan. The lawsuit alleges that the researchers did not obtain consent from the children’s families even
though they knew from their own research that Trovan might have life-threatening side effects and was “unfit for human use”.

The suit further contends that the researchers gave the other half a comparison drug made by Pfizer’s competitor Hoffman-La Roche, but deliberately underdosed them to make their own product look better. Pfizer and its doctors “agreed to do an illegal act,” the suit says, “in a manner so rash and negligent as to endanger human life”.

Once the trial was over, the suit continues, Pfizer left the area, removed all medical records and “obliterated any evidence” of the trial. A Nigerian government report, which appears to have spurred the criminal charges, previously found that Pfizer never told the children or their parents they were participating in a trial and did not inform them that alternative treatments were available – most obviously chloramphenicol, a relatively cheap
antibiotic usually recommended for bacterial meningitis.

The government report found that of the 11 children who died, five were taking Trovan and six were taking low doses of the comparison drug, ceftriaxone. An unknown number suffered deafness, blindness, paralysis and other disabilities.

The Kano authorities have charged Pfizer on eight counts of criminal conspiracy and voluntarily causing grievous harm. They have also filed a civil suit seeking more than $2.7bn (£1.3bn) in damages. Pfizer has responded to the lawsuit by insisting it did nothing wrong. “Pfizer continues to emphasize – in the strongest terms – that the 1996 Trovan clinical study was conducted with the full knowledge of the Nigerian government and in a
responsible and ethical way consistent with the company’s abiding commitment to patient safety,” a company statement said. “Any allegations in these lawsuits to the contrary are simply untrue – they weren ’t valid when they were first raised years ago and they’re not valid today.”

Back in 1997, when Pfizer faced a US government audit of its records on Trovan, the company produced a letter from a hospital in Kano saying its study had been approved by the hospital’s ethics committee. The company’s accusers contend that the letter was fabricated after the fact, using
a forged letterhead. The hospital, according to the suit, has no ethics committee.

Nigeria’s decision to prosecute Pfizer marks the first known instance of a Third World country going after a pharmaceutical multinational. Until now, the Nigerians have trod very carefully around the issue – commissioning an investigation but then suppressing the results until they were
leaked to The Washington Post a few years ago.

But the episode has got in the way of successive public initiatives, including a polio vaccination drive that prompted an 11-month boycott in Kano.

Trovan has never been approved for use on US children. It was cleared for adults in 1997, but its use was restricted two years later following reports of liver damage and death. It is banned throughout Europe.

= = == = = = = = = =

(4) PFIZER’S TRIAL DRUG, TROVAN, ALSO INTENDED AS TREATMENT FOR DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS

A search on “trovafloxacin tuberculosis” comes up with this, for example: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cpd/2011/00000017/00000027/art00007

(trovafloxacin is a “novel ” FQ)

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are important drugs to treat drug-resistant tuberculosis. In this review we integrated pharmacokinetic properties (PK) and microbiological susceptibility against M. tuberculosis and eventually evaluated the pharmcodynamic (PD) properties, as well as the influence of co-administered agents on these characteristics, for the currently used FQs (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin) in TB treatment. Future FQs that are being developed may overcome the problems with FQs that are used in daily practice. Therefore PK and pharmacodynamic (PD) properties of novel FQs (clinafloxacin, garenoxacin, lomefloxacin, sitafloxacin, sparfloxacin, trovafloxacin, gemifloxacin, grepafloxacin and DC-159a) were evaluated in TB treatment as well. Integrating both excellent PK and PD properties, moxifloxacin, possibly at a higher dosage, may fulfil a far more important role in the treatment of multi-drug and early-generation FQ resistant TB than proposed in the current WHO guideline. Sparfloxacin, trovafloxacin and sitafloxacin are upcoming novel FQs that may be useful for drug-resistant TB based on their favourable PK properties or microbiological susceptibility against M. tuberculosis. Finally, the 8-methoxy moiety, as present in the chemical structure of MFX, will possibly provide DC- 159a with promising PK/PD characteristics and consequently this FQ may develop into a key FQ in future drug resistant TB treatment.

2009-03-31 Will a Spanish Judge Bring Bush-Era Figures to Justice?

Baltasar Garzon, George Bush war criminal No Responses »

Mar 312009

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888572,00.html

By Lisa Abend / Madrid

Mar. 31, 2009
Nacho Doce/Reuters

Chile’s Pinochet. Argentina’s Scilingo. Guatemala’s Rios
Montt. To the roster of international figures whom Spanish investigative judge
Baltasar Garzón has sought to bring to justice, the name of Gonzales may soon
be added — as in Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. Attorney General and one of the
legal minds behind the Bush Administration’s justification of the use of
torture at Guantánamo.

On March 17, a group of lawyers representing the
Association for the Dignity of Prisoners, a Spanish human-rights group, filed a
complaint in Spain’s National Court against Gonzales and five other former
officials, including Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith and the Justice
Department’s John Yoo, for violating international law by creating a legal
framework that permitted the torture of suspected terrorists. On March 29, the
complaint became public after Garzón, who had been assigned the case, sent it
to the prosecutor’s office for review, a step seen by many familiar with the
court as a sign that the judge will soon agree to investigate the case.
“It’s still a bit early,” says Almudena Bernabeu, international
attorney with the San Francisco–based Center for Justice and Accountability,
which has brought claims before the National Court on behalf of victims of
human-rights abuse in Guatemala and El Salvador. “But it’s a great
step.” (See pictures of Pakistan’s lawyers celebrating victory.)

It is a step on a path that Garzón and other judges in
the same court have been down many times before. Spain’s National Court is
perhaps the world’s leading practitioner of universal jurisdiction, a legal
principle that holds that in crimes of exceptional gravity, the right to render
judgment is not limited to the country where the crime was committed. It’s a
principle that helped Garzón famously order the arrest and extradition of
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998 and that seven years later helped
convict Argentine military officer Adolfo Scilingo of crimes against humanity.
The National Court has also heard cases against high-ranking Chinese officials
on behalf of Tibet and Falun Gong, and against Israel for its attacks in Gaza.
(See pictures of Israeli soldiers sweeping into Gaza.)

For Gonzalo Boye, one of the lawyers who filed this
latest complaint, the legal cover that Gonzales, Yoo and other possible
defendants provided for waterboarding and other abuses at Guantánamo warrants
the international investigation. “Bush made a political decision based on
the advice he was getting from his judicial advisers,” says Boye.
“And what his advisers were telling him to do is a very serious
crime.”

No doubt there’s a bit of strategy in aiming at Yoo and
Feith (the complaint also brings charges against William Haynes, former general
counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay Bybee, of the Office of Legal
Counsel at the Justice Department; and David Addington, Dick Cheney’s chief of
staff). “Politically, going after lower-level officials is a lot more
palatable than going against a former President and Vice President,” says
international-law professor Robert Goldman, director of the War Crimes Research
Office at American University. “Plus, there’s a lot more direct evidence
when it comes to Yoo, Bybee and Addington. Their fingerprints are all over
these policies.” (Reached by e-mail, Bybee, now a judge on the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals, said he had no comment.)

But direct evidence or no, can the case have anything
more than symbolic impact? “That’s the toughest question,” admits
Bernabeu. “It’s hard to believe we would see them face justice in a
Spanish courtroom.” Indeed, when Spain’s National Court brought charges
against U.S. military personnel for willfully firing on the Hotel Palestine in
Baghdad, where journalists were known to stay, and killing Spanish cameraman
José Couso, the three indicted officers simply ignored the subpoena. The court
later dropped the charges on appeal. (Vote for the 2009 TIME 100 Finalists.)

That’s not to say, however, that there won’t be an impact
should the case go forward. Several human-rights organizations in the U.S. are
said to be preparing their own charges against the authors and signatories of
the so-called Torture Memos, and their cases may be strengthened by the mere
fact that a Spanish investigation has begun. “It’s ironic that we
sometimes have to use international courts to encourage national ones to take
action, but that’s the way it works,” says Bernabeu. “And having a
national court take action can be a way of stopping things from happening
elsewhere in the world.” (Read “The Bush Administration’s Most
Despicable Act.”)

Furthermore, if Garzón subpoenas the lawyers and they
fail to appear in his court, he will then most likely issue an international
arrest warrant for each, just as he did for Pinochet, who was subsequently
taken into custody while convalescing after back surgery in Britain. “If I
were these fellows, I’d be very careful about where I traveled,” notes
Goldman.

But Boye believes the legal complaint will have far more
than symbolic effect. Asked whether he expected to see Gonzales or others in a
Spanish court or an American one, he replied, “I expect to see them in
court, full stop. You know why? Because I believe in the American system of
justice.”

2009-03-26 CPPIB going on a buying spree, Financial Post, Karen Mazurkewich

Corporatocracy or Democracy or Administrative State or WHAT? No Responses »

Mar 262009

Don Raymond, Senior VP, CPPIB, came from Goldman-Sachs. See 2012-06-11 CPPIB investment in Lockheed Martin increased by 14 times, 2010 to 2011.

The article below, CPPIB going on a buying spree, was written in March 2009.

By the end of 2009, excerpt from 2012-04-23 From Tootsie Rolls to tobacco: What’s in your CPP fund? (CPPIB), CBC News

” . . . In 2009, during the global financial crisis, the fund, like many, took a big hit, plummeting 18.6 per cent and losing $24 billion. This sparked a backlash from some critics who complained the top executives of the board received $7 million in bonuses despite the losses. …”

Now, about the buying spree (“$2-billion to $5-billion of debt”).

http://www.financialpost.com/related/topics/CPPIB+going+buying+spree/1431110/story.html

Karen Mazurkewich, Financial Post · Mar. 26, 2009

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is going on a big buying spree and to help it flex its investment muscle it is issuing debt for the first time.

Don Raymond, senior vice-president of public market investments at CPPIB, said the fund would issue $2-billion to $5-billion of debt over the next year to provide “additional flexibility” to fund longer term investments with a risk-profile similar to real estate, infrastructure and private debt.

“We are seeing some tremendous investment opportunities out there,” said Mr. Raymond, who added that CPPIB’s plan is to start “with the commercial-paper program to get our name into the marketplace and build up our track record as an issuer.”

Later in the year, the fund will issue a medium term note — in the five to ten-year range.

But will investors bite given the recent debacle with asset-back commercial paper? The answer according to analysts is a resounding yes.

“In the past there has been a good appetite for pension plan debt issuance,” said Chris Seip, head of the debt capital markets for RBC Capital Markets. “They are highly rated and they fit the bill for a flight to quality name in a market that continues to be dislocated,” he added.

Selling debt has always part of the long-term strategic plan of CPPIB, according Mr. Raymond. That said, the efficiency gain of doing this under these market conditions is much better, he added. The fund can raise money from investors at a much cheaper rate than securing a mortgage.

Mr. Raymond said the fund doesn’t know what index it would be part of yet, that’s still to be determined, but he presumed investors buying into a Canadian bond index would have a component tied to CPPIB issuance as well.

This is not the first pension plan to issue debt. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board’s (OTPPB’s) wholly-owned real estate subsidiary, Ontrea Inc. issued $600-million in 2001 and another $600-million in 2003; OMERS Realty Corp. raised $1-billion in two deals; The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has scooped up $1.275-billion in two deals; and the realty unit of the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. raised $450-million in 2007. Most recently the Public Service Pension Plan did two term issues raising $1-billion on the market in the last four months.

“The CPPIB name is known and investors can relate to it and know it will be around for a long time,” said Eric Beauchemin, managing director, public finance DBRS, which gave the CPPIB an issuer rating of AAA. “In addition, the size of the portfolio and the low leverage employed also provides investors comfort knowing that they will be able to meet the financial obligations down the road,” he added.

Even pension analysts are positive about the move.

If it means getting cheaper rate to finance deals, it makes total sense, said Malcolm Hamilton, a principal at Mercer Human Resources. Mr. Hamilton said the fund is in a good position to bear risk because it has good liquidity and a steady stream of contributions from across Canada. Mr. Hamilton, however, warns that the managers of the fund must know when to draw the line.

“If they want to ramp up [the borrowing facility] incrementally to shoot for greater and greater returns, I think people should be concerned,” he said. “I hope that at some point they won’t interpret their mandate as running a 130/30 hedge fund because I don’t think that’s their mandate.”

Keith Ambachtsheer, director of the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management at the University of Toronto, also believes issuing debt to take advantage of attractive opportunities in the market place is a smart move. But he too has one caveat: “I think is that only institutions that really have solid risk management discipline should be doing this. We don’t want every pension fund in the country to think this is a good thing.”

2009-03-14 Geo Bush visit to Calgary. Your role in Averting potential violence.

George Bush war criminal No Responses »

Mar 142009

There will be demonstrations in Calgary on Tuesday, March 17th as a consequence of George Bush’s visit.

The story is now in the international media.

There is a great deal we can all do to help avert violence. But it has to be done quickly.

The best thing you can do is to read (below) the words of former United States Attorney General, Ramsey Clark. He has sent a message to the protestors in Calgary.

The second best thing you can do is to pass his message along, in support of his efforts and the efforts of the protestors.

As you know, I sent a letter to the RCMP Superintendent we were in contact with earlier over the Encana pipeline “not terrorism”. The letter sent to him this week was about application of the laws to a war criminal (Geo Bush) and his arrest.

The Superintendent responded promptly and connected me with the officer-in-charge of the War Crimes Unit and two others from the Security Forces in Alberta.

The RCMP (War Crimes) have now reviewed their position and set out the reasons why they are not in a position to arrest Bush. Which I accept.

And do you know – – in some ways I was hoping that the Bush visit would go ahead unimpeded. Everything will be good – as long as the demonstrations are peaceful. (I have faith in the excellent young people who will be at the demonstration (along with the seniors) – see below).

If you read the following email, you will see how potential violence at the demonstrations can be averted. Please do whatever you can – mostly it means communicating with anyone you know in the media to get interviews ASAP for the leaders of the protest. And by circulating this email you build support and understanding for the protestors. They are not a bunch of hoodlums. (Link no longer valid http://www.warcriminalsout.com/)

When you are angry you need to be heard. We can help them to be heard. – – but more about that below.

========================

TO:

RCMP War Crimes Unit

Gail Davidson, Lawyers Against the War

CC:

Various RCMP officers

CBC Radio Saskatchewan

Nick Burman, citizen of Calgary

Calgary Chamber of Commerce chinfo AT calgarychamber.com

George Brookman reception3 AT calgarystampede.com (Calgary Stampede Board and I assume member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce)

Bennett Jones Law Firm

Law Society of Alberta (sent from website)

Hi All,

Nick Burman (resident of Calgary) voices concerns about potential violence around Bush’s visit to Calgary. I have the same.

I am one of the thousands of protestors across Canada. Unfortunately I cannot join those who will be in Calgary. Maybe I can contribute in this way: there are some common sense steps that can be taken to reduce the risk that violence will happen.

1. If it hasn’t already been done, I am wondering whether it would be a good idea for the Security Forces to talk with the leaders of the protest as soon as possible?

The fact that the protestors are holding workshops is a good sign. Most likely they are giving instruction on the importance of non-violence. And how to accomplish it.

The protestors likely have a plan in place to police persons in the crowd who might get out-of-hand. The police can work with the leaders of the protest, if they talk and know what to expect from each other, in advance. Self-policing will be to everyone’s benefit, I think.

Also, at such a meeting the leaders of the protest might be given assurances that there will be no police plants in the crowd, whose job is to provoke the crowd. Lloyde and I have a disagreement on what happened at Montebello!

But the Quebec Police Superintendent responsible had to give a press conference after the Aug 2007 protest at Montebello to explain the actions of the disguised members of the police force. He said they were doing their job (the provoking).

It would be better if everyone was upfront and if there was dialogue between the protestors and the Security Forces before Tuesday. Jointly they can work out a plan.

2. I would encourage all of us to do everything we can to get media interviews for the protestors IN ADVANCE of Tuesday – – not much time I know. But it is the best insurance against violence.

I note from a list of media coverage that L.A.W. is receiving good press coverage (Bush is a war criminal and should be charged).

THE GLARING OMMISSION is media interviews of the protestors IN ADVANCE of the protest. People get angry when they aren’t being heard.

The protestors are doing what is right. They are standing up against the terrible things done by the Bush Administration. If they can be heard, their anger will be lessened. Less anger will translate into less potential for violence.

These will be young people who are doing the organizing. They are not only moral. They are wonderful people – intelligent, dedicated, and thoughtful.

If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be out there doing what they’re doing. We need to give them every bit of support we can. It is because of them that there is hope for the world.

I urge you to read the complete text of the MESSAGE FROM RAMSEY CLARK to the protestors of the Bush visit. He is a former United States Attorney General:

http://hawkeyi.blogspot.com/2009/03/we-dare-not-blink-at-magnitude.html

He starts: “My congratulations and gratitude to Canada’s peace movement and its many organizations and individuals protesting the March 17th, 2009 appearance of former US President George W. Bush for a speech at a private lunch in Calgary. .

We dare not blink at the magnitude, diversity and pervasive impact of the known crimes committed by the Bush administration.

With unity, cooperation and perseverance, We Shall Overcome, or be undone, together.

We dare not fail.

I’ll put out an email into my network – – we really need to get people working together on this. There will be international media coverage.

In difficult times when other countries are experiencing violence in the streets we can set an example for how to have peaceful protest and, more importantly, dialogue and working together to solve problems.

Best wishes,

Sandra Finley

Saskatoon

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