[eccr] The Weekly Spin, June 15, 2005

>THE WEEKLY SPIN, June 15, 2005
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>THIS WEEK'S NEWS
>
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>1. Mad Cow USA - The Cover-Up Begins to Unravel
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>1. Cooney Lands Job With Exxon
>2. My Country Was Invaded and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
>3. White House's Climate Science Editor Opts for Warmer Climes
>4. Hustling Estrogen With Fake News
>5. Terror Errors
>6. BP: It's Not Easy, Feigning Green Cred
>7. Merck Compiles Dossiers on Doctors
>8. Plain Talk About Drug Company PR
>9. Prosecutor Splits Former Fleishman-Hillard Staff
>10. Just Say No to Drug Safety Board
>11. Oil Lobbyist Becomes White House Climate Science Editor
>12. Officials Opt for Cut-Price Penalty For Big Tobacco
>13. Bush and Blair Deny 'Fixed' Intelligence
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>== BLOG POSTINGS ==
>
>1. MAD COW USA - THE COVER-UP BEGINS TO UNRAVEL
>by John Stauber
>   The US governmentâ¬"s elaborate cover-up of mad cow dangers in the
>   United States has begun to unravel. Twenty-four hours after our
>   successful protest (with Organic Consumers Association) of the US
>   Department of Agricultureâ¬"s mad cow dog-and-pony show in St. Paul,
>   USDA Secretary Johanns was forced to admit that a cow tested last
>   year and declared safe in fact DID have mad cow disease, or at least
>   has tested positive on the definitive Western Blot test recently
>   administered by USDA and considered the 'gold standard' for BSE
>   testing.
>
>        Iâ¬"ve often charged that the USDA is hiding US cases of mad
>   cow by using the wrong testing procedures and by failing to conduct
>   food safety tests on millions of animals and this announcement
>   proves it. USDA finally used the correct test ⬠the Western Blot
>   test ⬠on this suspect animal and it has proven to be a case of
>   mad cow disease.
>For the rest of this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3751
>
>== SPIN OF THE DAY ==
>
>1. COONEY LANDS JOB WITH EXXON
>http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B03CA702F%2D7BB4%2D46C5%2DADB8%2DCF5
>   ExxonMobil has confirmed that it has hired Philip A. Cooney, the
>   former chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental
>   Quality who resigned last week after it was revealed that his
>   editing of government scientists reports downplayed the significance
>   of climate change. An Exxon Mobil spokesman declined to provide
>   details of Cooney's new job, which he starts in autumn. Deputy
>   spokeswoman for the White House, Dana Perino, told the New York
>   Times  "Phil Cooney did a great job and we appreciate his public
>   service and the work that he did, and we wish him well in the
>   private sector."
>SOURCE: CBS.MarketWatch.com June 14, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3759
>
>2. MY COUNTRY WAS INVADED AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT
>http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031783204555
>   "The U.S. Special Operations Command has hired three firms to
>   produce newspaper stories, television broadcasts and Web sites to
>   spread American propaganda overseas." The contract may run $100
>   million over the next five years. The work was likely outsourced
>   because there are "only one active-duty and two reserve psyops units
>   remaining" in the U.S. military. The lucky firms are Science
>   Applications International Corporation (SAIC), SYColeman and Lincoln
>   Group. SAIC previously ran the Iraqi Media Network, but "was
>   criticized for problems and exorbitant costs." SYColeman "created
>   the Army's Web site honoring the only Medal of Honor winner so far
>   from the Iraq war." Lincoln Group, formerly known as Iraqex, has
>   done PR work for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq. The firms will
>   produce "print articles, video and audio broadcasts, Internet sites
>   and novelty items, like T-shirts and bumper stickers, for foreign
>   audiences. Video products will include newscasts, hour-long TV shows
>   and commercials."
>SOURCE: Media General News Service, June 10, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3758
>
>3. WHITE HOUSE'S CLIMATE SCIENCE EDITOR OPTS FOR WARMER CLIMES
>http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31224/story.htm
>   Philip A. Cooney, a former American Petroleum Institute lobbyist
>   turned chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental
>   Quality, has resigned two days after Rick S. Piltz, a former senior
>   associate in the Climate Change Science Program, blew the whistle on
>   the editing of scientific reports on climate change. White House
>   spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told Reuters that Cooney's resignation was
>   unrelated to the the New York Times report on Piltz's damaging
>   revelations. Cooney, she claimed, had "long been considering his
>   options following four years of service in the administration ... He
>   had accumulated four weeks of leave and decided to resign and take
>   the summer off to spend time with his family." A Minneapolis
>   Star-Tribune editorial noted that while much of the coverage had
>   focused on Cooeny's editing efforts "less attention has settled on
>   his collaboration with Myron Ebell of the Competitive Enterprise
>   Institute in making these revisions."
>SOURCE: Reuters, June 14, 2005.
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3757
>
>4. HUSTLING ESTROGEN WITH FAKE NEWS
>http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1390967.htm
>   The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's MediaWatch program has
>   revealed that Estradot, an estrogen patch for women made by drug
>   industry giant Novartis, has been promoted in Australia by a fake
>   news package including a press release, a video news release (VNR)
>   and an audio news release (ANR). The VNR was used without
>   attribution by Channel 7 News. MediaWatch presenter, Liz Jackson,
>   reported that "on radio it was everywhere, over and over again,
>   using only the medical experts the PR company provided." Potential
>   side effects, Jackson reported, were "almost completely ignored by
>   the media, except when one of the company's experts raised it
>   herself to dismiss lingering concerns." MediaWatch did not disclose
>   which PR firm produced and/or distributed the fake news package.
>SOURCE: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, June 13, 2005.
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3756
>
>5. TERROR ERRORS
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/11/AR2005061100381.html
>   Last week, President Bush said, "Federal terrorism investigations
>   have resulted in charges against more than 400 suspects, and more
>   than half of those charged have been convicted." But independent
>   analyses contradict those numbers. The Washington Post reports that
>   their analysis of Justice Department records showed that "39 people
>   - not 200, as officials have implied - were convicted of crimes
>   related to terrorism or national security." The Post found "no
>   demonstrated connection to terrorism or terrorist groups for 180" of
>   those charged in conjunction with post-9/11 terror investigations.
>   "A large number of people appear to have been swept into U.S.
>   counterterrorism investigations by chance ... and have remained
>   classified as terrorism defendants years after being cleared of
>   connections to extremist groups," wrote the Post. The paper's
>   findings are similar to earlier New York University and Syracuse
>   University studies.
>SOURCE: Washington Post, June 12, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3755
>
>6. BP: IT'S NOT EASY, FEIGNING GREEN CRED
>http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=646162
>   "BP's reputation as one of the world's most environmentally
>   progressive energy companies is on the line," writes the
>   Independent. That's because BP refused to support mandatory carbon
>   dioxide emissions limits in the energy bill, as proposed by U.S.
>   Senator Bingaman. The energy bill will be debated by the Senate this
>   week. BP is also "unlikely" to support Senators McCain's and
>   Lieberman's proposal to mandate greenhouse gas reductions. "Instead,
>   BP said it supported a third alternative from Chuck Hagel, a
>   Nebraska Republican, which requires companies only to try to cut
>   emissions with the promise of tax breaks." The company called the
>   Hagel proposal "achievable," claiming the other plans "would not
>   achieve the ultimate goal of reducing global warming." In response,
>   Clean Air Watch called BP guilty of "greenwashing on epic
>   proportions."
>SOURCE: Independent (UK), June 12, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3754
>
>7. MERCK COMPILES DOSSIERS ON DOCTORS
>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4696609
>   "I didn't realize how powerful the drug companies thought they
>   were," said health policy professor Lisa Bero, regarding Merck's
>   campaign to silence a prominent physician critical of their
>   painkiller Vioxx. According to documents obtained by NPR, Merck
>   first approached Stanford University's Dr. Gurkirpal Singh in 1998.
>   The drug company paid Singh up to $2,500 for each talk he gave to
>   other physicians about Vioxx. But when Singh became concerned about
>   a 2000 study suggesting Vioxx increased the risk of heart attacks,
>   the relationship turned sour. Merck tracked Singh's public comments
>   on Vioxx, eventually contacting his bosses at Stanford and hinting
>   "there would be repercussions ... if Singh's statements didn't
>   stop." Merck provides significant research funding to Stanford, a
>   common arrangement between drug companies and universities.
>SOURCE: National Public Radio, June 9, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3753
>
>8. PLAIN TALK ABOUT DRUG COMPANY PR
>http://prweek.com/news/news_story.cfm?ID=238685&site=3&setcookie=1
>   GlaxoSmithKline is undertaking yet another effort to improve its
>   reputation - "an extensive state-by-state media blitz." Michael
>   Pucci, GSK's vice-president of "external advocacy," told PR Week
>   that local reporters were easier for the drug company to deal with.
>   "These folks are hungry for news," he said. "They'll print
>   everything we say ... without the political spin." GSK hired two PR
>   firms for the campaign, but is not naming them. The media work
>   "parallels grassroots outreach" that GSK began last year, sending
>   "sales representatives to deliver its message in front of the
>   religious, fraternal, and other community groups to which they
>   belong." GSK also launched the plaintalkaboutmeds.com website with
>   WebMD, "to address issues ranging from the cost of developing drugs
>   to patient assistance programs."
>SOURCE: PR Week (sub. req'd.), June 6, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3752
>
>9. PROSECUTOR SPLITS FORMER FLEISHMAN-HILLARD STAFF
>http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-060905fleishman_lat,0,3301021.story?coll=la-home-headlines
>   A former Fleishman-Hillard executive, Steven Sugerman, will plead
>   guilty to participating in a plan to overbill the Los Angeles
>   Department of Water and Power. Sugerman, who now runs the Sugerman
>   Communications Group, has also agreed to testify against his former
>   F-H boss, Douglas R. Dowie, who has entered a not guilty plea. Dowie
>   is also suing F-H for wrongful dismissal. In April 2005 F-H
>   acknowledged overbilling the city of Los Angeles and agreed to pay
>   $5.7 million to settle its lawsuit.
>SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2005.
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3750
>
>10. JUST SAY NO TO DRUG SAFETY BOARD
>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/07/AR2005060701739_pf.html
>   "The new drug safety board established by the Food and Drug
>   Administration to restore confidence in the nation's drug supply
>   will actually set back efforts to improve the safety of the
>   medications Americans take and will not make it any easier to take
>   dangerous drugs off the market," the Washington Post reports. FDA
>   safety officer David Graham criticized the Drug Safety Oversight
>   Board (DSB) for being "severely biased in favor of industry." He
>   told the Post, "Ironically, drug safety in the U.S. is worse off
>   today than it was in November." Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent
>   a letter to the FDA critical of the agency's decision that the DSB
>   will have private deliberations, requesting improved transparency
>   and accountability and for the FDA to "explain in detail how it will
>   ensure that the DSB is truly independent and objective."
>SOURCE: Washington Post, June 8, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3749
>
>11. OIL LOBBYIST BECOMES WHITE HOUSE CLIMATE SCIENCE EDITOR
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/politics/08climate.html?hp&ex=1118289600&en=54e7b911a5d025aa&ei=5094&partner=homepage
>   In a lengthy memo Rick S. Piltz, a former senior associate in the
>   Climate Change Science Program, revealed that U.S. government
>   climate research reports had been edited by a White House official,
>   Philip A. Cooney, to emphasize doubts about climate change.
>   According to Piltz's memo Cooney, a former "climate team leader" and
>   lobbyist with the American Petroleum Institute, changed one 2002
>   document to "create an enhanced sense of scientific uncertainty
>   about climate change and its implications." In March this year Piltz
>   resigned and subsequently contacted the Government Accountability
>   Project, a whistleblower protection organization. A white House
>   spokeswoman, Michele St. Martin, told the New York Times that Cooney
>   would not be available to speak to reporters. "He's not a cleared
>   spokesman," she said. Myron Ebell from the Competitive Enterprise
>   Institute, a corporate-funded think tank, defended the editing as
>   necessary for "consistency."
>SOURCE: New York Times, June 8, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3748
>
>12. OFFICIALS OPT FOR CUT-PRICE PENALTY FOR BIG TOBACCO
>http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tobacco8jun08,0,3044593.story?coll=la-home-business
>   Department of Justice lawyers prosecuting major tobacco companies on
>   racketeering charges have sought only $10 billion for a five-year
>   smoking cessation program. In earlier expert testimony the campaign
>   had been costed at $130 billion over 25 years. The Los Angeles Times
>   reports that a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
>   decision to seek a cut-price penalty was "forced on the tobacco team
>   by higher-level, politically appointed officials of the Justice
>   Department," including Associate Attorney General Robert McCallum.
>   Before working for the DOJ McCallum was a partner in the law firm
>   Alston & Bird, which had worked for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. Democrats
>   Henry Waxman and Martin Meehan have written to the DOJ Inspector,
>   General Glenn A. Fine, seeking an investigation into the
>   allegations. The DOJ's "approach to tobacco litigation should be
>   based on the facts of the case and not political favors to the
>   tobacco industry," they wrote.
>SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2005.
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3747
>
>13. BUSH AND BLAIR DENY 'FIXED' INTELLIGENCE
>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/international/08prexy.html?
>   In a joint meeting in Washington, President Bush and British Prime
>   Minister Tony Blair brushed off a recently revealed British memo
>   from July 2002 that said "intelligence and facts were being fixed
>   around the policy" to remove Saddam Hussein "through military
>   action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and W.M.D." or
>   weapons of mass destruction. "There's nothing farther from the
>   truth," Bush said in his first public comments about the so-called
>   Downing Street memo the New York Times reports. While Bush and Blair
>   continue to insist that at the time they had every reason to believe
>   intelligence indicating Hussein had stockpiles of deadly weapons,
>   there is much evidence showing that others in the intelligence
>   community and government were not convinced and issued warnings
>   against some sources of the WMD intelligence. The Washington Post's
>   Walter Pincus reports, "a close reading of the recent 600-page
>   report by the president's commission on intelligence, and the
>   previous report by the Senate panel, shows that as war approached,
>   many U.S. intelligence analysts were internally questioning almost
>   every major piece of prewar intelligence about Hussein's alleged
>   weapons programs."
>SOURCE: The New York Times, June 8, 2005
>For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
>http://www.prwatch.org/node/3746
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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