FDA Withholds List of Chinese Heparin Suppliers From Probe

“The FDA thinks they have it under control, but they really don’t,” said the congressman leading the investigation, Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). The FDA’s reluctance to release the Chinese companies’ names is a red flag, he said. “If I was the FDA director, I’d shut down every drug coming in from China” until they were deemed safe, he said.

So why is the FDA withholding names of Chinese heparin suppliers? Why do they have to protect them? Is the FDA putting relations with China and trade before the welfare of people?

BBC NEWS | UK | Facebook users warned about ads

Credit Action says adverts promising cheap loans for people with poor credit ratings are appearing on the site and many break advertising regulations.

I wonder what Mr. Zuckerberg thinks about this? They’re (the corporations advertising on Facebook) promoting payday loans and loans secured against your car? These ads are basically violating UK credit advertising regulations. This makes me wonder why doesn’t the United States have regulations that are just as strong? Are American Facebook users under siege form these merchants of debt?

Technorati Tags: zuckerberg, facebook, credit action, uk

AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

In a report released today, the House Education and Labor Committee says the mining company’s plan to remove coal was flawed and should never have been submitted, and that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) should never have approved it.

Actually, they should be tarred and feathered. And while they’re at it how about getting those responsible for the Sago Mine as well? Matter of fact, there’s way too many mine accidents happening; it’s “Brownie” incompetence at the MSHA.

Mother’s Day - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother’s Day was loosely inspired by the British day and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother’s Day for Peace. Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers’ Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.

It’s important for every American to know of the origin of this day in this country.

When Jarvis died in 1907, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first such Mother’s Day was celebrated in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Originally the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church, this building is now the International Mother’s Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on — spreading eventually to 45 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

Right now on the radio and on TV you hear nothing about the war aspect of Mother’s Day. I think this is very important. In war you loose real things Mothers loose their sons and their daughters.

Technorati Tags: mothers day

If I were people in Britain I’d be bringing out the torches and pitchforks to kick these guys out.

Burke Group, which Burke founded in 1982, is a new sort of HR consultancy that arrived in Britain eight years ago. Based in California, it describes itself as the largest American management consultancy that special-ises “in union avoidance and preventative industrial labour relations”. It employs more than 60 consultants, including a representative in Britain.

If there’s one thing I hate more than the corporations who abuse workers, the environment and people in general; its the PR firms and other firms like the Burke Group who enable them to do so.

The Hometown Advantage - New York Requires Amazon.com to Collect Sales Tax

Included in the state budget passed this week by the New York legislature is a provision that requires online retailers, including Amazon.com, to collect state and local sales taxes.

Independent booksellers and other retailers fought hard for the measure’s passage, which eliminates a long-standing bias in tax policy. For more than a decade, local retailers have had to tack an extra 8 percent on to every sale while competing against a formidable rival—Amazon.com—that did not have to collect this tax.

This is indeed a just decision on the part of the NY legislature. This might boost revenue to NY by forty seven million dollars. This is also an issue of fairness as local business in NY have to pay taxes while competing with the likes of Amazon who up until now got away with not paying taxes. What’s also ironic is that other national online retailers like Wal-Mart.com and Target.com collect taxes with software that makes it easier for them to do so. This is why Amazon doesn’t really have a good argument that they can make. Sure they’ll lawyer up and head to NY but they’re looking like cry babies to me.

Bhopal: Hundreds of New Victims Are Born Each Year· Children of victims suffer but have no health cover · 23 years after disaster, site has still not been cleaned

Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, says it is not responsible, arguing that because the plant is on government land it is up to the state to clean it up. However, the Indian government’s chemicals and fertilisers ministry has said in court that Dow should pay 1 billion rupees, or £13m, to dismantle the factory and restore the fields.

We have to do everything in our power to make sure that this is the legacy of Dow Chemical period.

Why You Shouldn’t Spend that ‘Stimulus’ Check

If an American was planning to spend $40K this year on food, clothing, shelter, health and various other expenses and they were hoping to defray some of that cost thanks to Bush’s stimulus check understand that by simply adding another $168 billion of debt (the cost of the stimulus package) on top of America’s current multi-trillion debt load will continue the Bush-Paulson-Benanke trend of debasing the purchasing power of your money and, therefore, raise the price of goods and services by more than the $600 ‘gift’ (without a commensurate rise in wages or increase in interest paid on savings).

I personally knew that this check is really borrowed money, but how many Americans know that? Furthermore it’s really hard to tell the average person not to cash the check. They can not help but look at the check and think of the things they’ll need to use it for. Also for what Mr. Keiser is suggesting in this piece; you would need a lot of people not cashing their checks in order for our purchasing power to be increased. I will say that part of what brings on economic depressions does appear to be the weakening of the purchasing power of working people. They’re the ones that are going to spend more of their income and put it back into the economy, so you hurt the economy by reducing their purchasing power. Also the economy has to be somewhat local or national with the revenue staying put and being cycled through and taxed each time over and over.

I just happened to be watching MSNBC and Olberman’s show when during the break this ad for the so called “Coalition for a Democratic Workplace” came on. If this isn’t a PR corporatist astroturf effort then I don’t know what is. They’re afraid of the Employee Free Choice Act because it gives workers more power to organize. It’s easier for them to thwart an NLRB election. A quick look at who the domain name for this organization is registered with and one sees that it’s registered with a firm on K Street. It appears that the PR firm the Adfero Group is doing the strategy. Just look at their client list and you’ll see what we’re up against here. If there’s one thing I really disdain it’s these slimy PR firms like Edelman and Adfero who are paid to carry the water for bigger fish.

ILWU To Shut Down All West Coast Ports To Protest War

On May 1, all 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast are to be shut down by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in protest against the U.S. war on Afghanistan and Iraq. The Bay Area ILWU local was the first American union to condemn the war. In April 2003, as invading U.S. troops reached Baghdad, six longshoremen were injured and a union official was arrested as police fired on hundreds of antiwar protesters in the port of Oakland.

This is a great effort by the ILWU to shut down ports in protest. Another great example of labor being against the war. I wonder if any mainstream press will pick this story up as well.