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June 12,
2002
STICKING
IT TO BIG PHARMA
It’s
called the Therapeutics Initiative (TI) and it is one of our favorite
organizations in Academe. Honesty and extremely meticulous research is
the watchword here. No matter that these traits will rub Big Pharma
the wrong way. Not always, but often, TI reveals that the latest drugs
on the market are essentially no better (but costlier) than earlier
drugs used for the same purpose and that the science behind them (the
clinical trials) are either shoddy or remarkably incomplete. TI is set
up at the University of British Columbia and receives its funding from
the British Columbia Ministry of Health. The government obviously
wants someone to get behind all the drug promotional hype and
determine the value of new drugs. TI does a terrific job.
In its
latest "Therapeutics Letter," hot off the press, it takes a bead on
three new drugs.
Go
here for a refreshing look at how scientific assessment can be
honourable. Of course, the red flags that TI’s drug evaluations set
off are very troubling, pointing to deplorable science and obvious
market exploitation at the expense of patients.
April 29,
2002
WOMEN
CHANGING LIVES: MUSUE HADDAD
 Musue
Hadd, Journalist And Human Rights Activist In Liberia
April 22,
2002
ERIC V.
SCHAEFFER, EPA DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT RESIGNS
Eric
V. Schaeffer: Resigns From The EPA, Citing Frustrations With Agency
And White House
April 15,
2002
WOMEN
CHANGING LIVES: SHAZIA MEHMOOD
Shazia
Mehmood: Fighting For Human Rights
ATTENTION
DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER
April 8,
2002
Dr.
Fred Baughman: Tireless Anti-Ritalin Warrior
WOMEN
CHANGING LIVES: THEAVY MOM
April 1,
2002
Working
To Prevent The Commercialization Of Children In Cambodia: Theavy Mom
WOMEN
CHANGING LIVES: IRENA LIEBERMAN
March 25,
2002
Changing
Lives: Irena Lieberman
SCIENCE'S RACIST SHAME
March 18,
2002
Elizabeth
Rasekoala: Running Science Clubs To Break Down Racism
SLAUGHTER IN THE NAME OF GOD
March 11,
2002
The
courage to voice beliefs that may rub many people the wrong way is
good reason this week to honor author Salmon Rushdie.
In his
bold and provocative Washington Post commentary, Rushdie explores the
role of religion in triggering the daily slaughter of people around
the world. He considers the slaughter of children at times of
religious unrest in his own native India and the recent eruption of
Hindu-Muslim "blood-letting." And he ends with these lines:
…in
India, as elsewhere in our darkening world, religion is the poison in
the blood. Where religion intervenes, mere innocence is no excuse. Yet
we go on skating around this issue, speaking of religion in the
fashionable language of "respect." What is there to respect in any of
this, or in any of the crimes now being committed almost daily around
the world in religion’s dreaded name?
Salmon
Rushdie’s commentary in the Washington Post
CHAMPION
OF DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
March 4,
2002
This
week’s honors go to Aung San Suu Kyi. Whenever you need inspiration,
consider her courage as a democracy activist in Burma (Myanmar) to
bring freedom and dignity to a country controlled by one of Asia’s
last military dictatorships.
The
country’s press is under control of the military and there is no
freedom of speech. Suu Kyi, revered by the people of Burma, was placed
under house arrest in July 1989. Six years later, due to worldwide
pressure, she was released but her freedom is still restricted. Suu
Kyi remains hopeful that further international pressure will lead one
day to democracy in Burma.
Suu Kyi’s
odyssey is also a reminder to all of us who live in democracies that
the freedoms we enjoy, fragile and superficial as they may be at
times, can be cleverly stolen from us or even ripped away in the name
of the Greater Good. Consider that the military in Burma has convinced
itself that Burma can survive only if the country remains under its
control.
Read
about Suu Kyi.
Also read
Barbara
Lewis’ column on how she, as a singer/songwriter, was inspired by
Suu Kyi.
A
JOURNALIST IN THE TRENCHES
February
22, 2002
Daniel
Pearl, RIP
FIGURE SKATING GRACE
February
16, 2002
This
week’s honors go to Canadian Olympic skaters Jamie Sale and David
Pelletier for their classy reaction to the disgusting behavior of the
judge or judges who sold them out for future favors.
Sale and Pelletier handled themselves with grace, humor and dignity, a
far cry from the alleged shady shenanigans of the French skating
federation, which has not distinguished itself in recent years.
The International Olympic Committee needs to take a big broom and
sweep out the cheats, liars and thieves who pose as Olympic judges.
SETTING
A STANDARD IN JOURNALISM
February
9, 2002
This week's honors go to the HARTFORD COURANT for its first-rate
investigations of the anthrax vaccine and anthrax letters.
The Hartford Courant is the "oldest newspaper in continuous
publication" in the United States. Started as a weekly newspaper in
1764 - before the nation's birth - it now has a daily circulation of
more than 200,000, reaching about 300,000 on Sundays.
Here
is a link to some examples of the Hartford Courant's reporting on
anthrax. |
