Nick Zinner of !!!, doing what Nick Zinner does.

I'm currently working on my annual "trend spotting" type list of what I saw at this weekend's festivities. (You can check out last year's here.) If you are not aware, Pitchfork is a festival that brings local, national and international talent together, so they can all look at how each other are dressing. Oh yeah, there’s music there too.

It was a pretty good year, actually, but I was hoping for more in the "style" department, not sure why. It could be for anyone of these three reasons:

1. As Pitchfork notoriety has grown in the last three years, perhaps the fest’s “edgy” feel has worn off a bit, and with that, it’s forward-dressing attendees have diluted.
2. My disillusionment and unending distaste for anything new or old
3. I am WAY ahead of all trends now.

Bradford James Cox of Deerhuner and Mark Sultan of King Kahn attempt to entertain impatient Cut Copy fans. "A" for effort.

The feast was actually really fun. !!! killed, which is no surprise. Les Savy Fav was awesome, also no surprises there. Biggest issue with the event was actually Cut Copy’s failure to make it from the airport in time for their closing set. Though that’s no fault of their own, it’s still supremely disappointing. In what allotted time was left, they made the most of it, banging out both crowd-bouncers “Light & Music”, and “Hearts on Fire” to an enthused (but obviously peeved) crowd. Those that stuck around to see the hyper-abbreviated set worked very hard for an encore which didn’t come -- chanting “Five More Songs, Five More Songs” probably didn’t help.

Before I write about “trend spotting” thing, which I’ll post about tomorrow probably, I wanted to mention things I didn’t see but expected to...

• Party-Rappers: I saw very few nu-rave/b-boy kids. There were a few zany fluorescent windbreakers in the crowd, but surprisingly few retina-burning limited-edition hightops, Kanye-esque Venitian blind sunglasses, and “crosscolor” wear.
• American Apparel Smack Girls: Emaciated heroin-chic AmAp mannequins, looking like the Olsen twins on a budget, did not take over the fest. I’m not particularly against American Apparel at all, but sometimes their style and color-choices are very disturbing. Just because you bought your entire outfit at the same store does NOT mean that it will automatically go together. They should put that as a disclaimer on the bag.
• The Unapologetic Prep: With XRT-approved artists Vampire Weekend and Spoon both playing, and with coverage from outlets like Chicago rag The Red Eye, I anticipated seeing a lot more Chad/Trixie presence. V.W. especially, whose style is particularly "high-prep" did not bring out the J. Crew slew. Surprisingly, the most evidence I saw of this was on Friday during Public Enemy!(?) Who woulda' thunk it? While Chuck D was talking about war, racism, Darfur, etc., there was a dude next to us going on a tirade about Chicago’s 10.25% sales tax. When Chuck was talking about the drug trade and Big Pharm, this guy started screaming about how much money he lost with his Pfizer stock last week. I’m NOT making this up.
• Mud People: I’m am SO impressed with the lack of Mud People over the weekend. The hippie count, though present at the fest, was still at very low levels. Very few idiots thought it a good idea to douse themselves completely in mud. Yes, L.S.V. did it, but they’re on a stage -- you are not.

Check back soon for a quick overview of what was stylin' this year, and what you will soon see in your local bar if your local bar has Yo La Tengo on the juke box.

Oh, and just to streamline the process, here's all the missed connections posted from this weekend so far. You're welcome:

Jul 21 - My new friend from the East Coast - w4m - 29 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork -- the draw of the music kept me from stopping to chat - m4w - 30 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Broken arm dude at pitchfork - w4m - 22 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - giant camera lense and gray cut off jeans boy - w4m -

Jul 21 - To all the beautiful women at pitchfork that I missed (and still miss) - m4w - 28 - (Union Park)

Jul 21 - I saw you yesterday, but we still haven't seen Of Montreal - m4w - 22 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - you asked if i'd blow the next hit in your mouth - m4w - 25 - (pitchfork animal collective)

Jul 21 - Rae...Ghost...Empty Cups...Backpacks - m4w - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - your friends called you caleb - 25 - (pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork: owl belt buckle both days - m4w - 26 - (union park)

Jul 21 - To The Hula Hoop Chick From Pitchfork (Saturday Night) - m4w - (Pitchfork)

Jul 21 - Can I see you again? - m4w - 28 - (Pitchfork) pic

Jul 21 - Hey, another pitchfork post - m4w - 24 - (The pitch)

Jul 21 - pitchforked - m4w -

Jul 21 - Pitchfork's No. 1 Boobs - m4w - 27 - (Pitchfork Music Fest)

Jul 21 - Pitchfork glance - m4w - 26 - (Pitchfork)

Jul 20 - pitchfork guy at cut copy - w4m - 21 - (pitchfork)

Jul 20 - pitchfork - w4m - 24 -

Jul 20 - Brad on the No. 9 to Pitchfork - w4m - 25 - (Ashland to Lake St.)

Jul 20 - tennessee and pitchfork boy - w4m -

Jul 20 - Cute girl at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday - m4w - 26 - (Chicago)

Jul 20 - Pitchfork -- Throwing up near the entrance - w4m - 21 - (Union Park)

Jul 20 - saw you at the art museum AND pitchfork -

Jul 19 - Katie, this is Alex from Pitchfork - m4w - 22 - (Union Park)

Jul 19 - Pitchfork--your friend asked to unzip my shirt - w4m - 25 -

Jul 19 - you were working by the jewlry - w4w - (pitchfork)

Jul 19 - pitchfork - (indielove)

Jul 19 - Pitchfork Fest - 25 - (Union Park)

Jul 19 - pitchfork girl with guy's face tattooed on left arm - m4w - 27 - (grant park)

Jul 18 - Pitchfork Cutie - Blue Cubs Hat and Glasses - m4m - 33 - (Pitchfork)

Parents fear their kids not being smart enough to make it to the good colleges. Worse, they fear their kids being too smart to care for them. Teachers fear students filing FIRs if spoken rudely to. Kids fear getting paralyzed because a reality show host talked rudely to them.

They grow old and then they start fearing bad relationships. Or jilted lovers trying to throw acid on their face, or just kill them. Not being rich enough.

Continue Reading

Preemption reversed? - US District Court Judge David Hamilton has reversed his prior opinion in which he had dismissed a Paxil suicide case based on preemption, which says that FDA approval supercedes state law claims challenging safety, efficacy, or labeling. The FDA and drugmakers argue preemption exists by maintaining agency actions are the final word on safety and effectiveness. The case is now re-opened...more

Teva pays Barr tab - The world’s largest maker of generic drugs is expanding once again. Teva has agreed to pay $66.50, or a total of $7.46 billion plus the assumption of net debt of approximately $1.5 billion...more

AZ and Ethical pharma - AstraZeneca is training staff in a new Code of Conduct that aims to ensure employees at all levels and locations act appropriately. The Code was introduced in May and covers a number issues, including interactions with healthcare professionals, conflicts of interest and the ethics of R&D. It goes further than the recently revised EFPIA or PhRMA rules and explicitly spells out dos and don'ts on additional issues, such as political donations and insider trading...more

You've heard about the HR helicopter? Some folks take this literally.

PhRMA says, "Bag the Schwag" - A ubiquitous element of pharmaceutical marketing is scheduled to vanish next January 1, as the revised marketing code of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America goes into effect. Gone will be the non-educational freebies—the pens, pads, mugs, toys, and miscellaneous tchotchkes?that pharma companies distribute by the carload...more. And more here from Pharmalot.

The Washington D.C. rules and regs for pharma sales reps.

Glaxo to pay billions for a good night's sleep - The drugmaker has agreed to pay that much for the licensing rights to Actelion’s investigational drug, almorexant...more

BI cutting neuro sales force - The neurology sales team, which peddles Aggrenox to neurologists for treating transient ischemic attacks and strokes, met last week in Chicago, where BI managers told them they are going to restructure...more

*

1. Quick, get this man some media training. I might donate to John McCain's campaign just so he can have a session with my good friend, Ita Olsen.

He looks pained, people. Just pained.

*

2. I love it when rich white dudes from Texas tell me that the economy is great and call me a whiner.

Phil Gramm, you are a tool.

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3. Watch this video and tell me why are they bleeping out the word NUTS.

The most offensive part of this video is that Jesse Jackson seems to forget that we live in the age of microphones and cameras. Someone needs to enroll Reverend Jackson in You Tube 101. Stat!

Paul Alan Davis, manager of Charles Schwab's $800 million healthcare portfolio, which includes holdings in Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Schering-Plough and other major pharma companies, said he wasn't sure which of the candidates posed the biggest shake-up for the industry - if at all. He also said that the campaign is not a factor in his investment decisions.

Stumble it!

Out-of-court settlement talks between pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the Kano State government broke down at the weekend after the government and representatives of victims' families turned down an offer of $10 million compensation from the company.

This was disclosed to newsmen yesterday by chairman of the victims' association, Alhaji Mustapha Maisikeli shortly after a Kano High Court presided over by the acting Chief Judge, Justice Shehu Atiku, adjourned the case to October 6 and 7.

Les personnes prenant du Champix (marque déposée; tartrate de varénicline) pour arrêter le tabac doivent interrompre immédiatement leur traitement "en cas d'agitation, d'humeur dépressive, d'idées suicidaires ou de modifications du comportement", prévient l'agence française du médicament mardi. Elle ne remet toutefois pas en cause le rapport bénéfice/risque du traitement.

L'Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des produits de santé (Afssaps) précise dans un communiqué que "cette nouvelle information sera mentionnée dans la notice destinée aux patients et le résumé des caractéristiques du produit (RCP) destiné aux professionnels".

La prudence est aussi recommandée chez "les patients présentant des antécédents de maladie psychiatrique sévère (schizophrénie, troubles bipolaires, dépression caractérisée sévère), l'efficacité et la sécurité de Champix n'ayant pas été établies chez ces patients". "Une étude européenne est cependant en cours chez des patients atteints de psychose."

Le Champix a obtenu l'autorisation de mise sur le marché (AMM) européen en septembre 2006. Il est disponible en France sur prescription médicale depuis février 2007. Entre février 2007 et mai 2008, environ 516.000 patients ont été traités par Champix en France.

En 2007, l'évaluation des données de pharmacovigilance a conduit les autorités européennes à ajouter dans la notice le risque d'infarctus du myocarde, de troubles dépressifs et de comportements suicidaires sans qu'un lien ait été établi avec la prise de Champix, ces symptômes pouvant apparaître lors de tout sevrage tabagique.

Plus récemment, l'analyse de données internationales de pharmacovigilance "montre que des patients sans antécédents psychiatriques connus ont développé des troubles dépressifs, des idées et des comportements suicidaires", "et certains patients présentant des troubles similaires n'avaient pas arrêté de fumer au moment de l'apparition des symptômes".

Par voie de conséquence, les autorités européennes ont décidé de renforcer les mises en garde.

Source : The Associated Press

If you go to www.makingtheconnection.ca you find that it is a Pfizer funded site. Pfizer spent many $millions on these terrorist ads. Pfizer makes Lipitor, a statin cholesterol-lowering drug and the biggest selling drug in the world. In 2005 about $US 12 billion was sold.

These advertisements appeared in many Canadian publications over the last few years. The implication is clear: either measure your cholesterol (and take a pill to lower it if you have "dyslipidemia" ) or you will die. This is a propaganda technique known as "the big lie". Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, "...the magnitude of a lie always contains a certain factor of credibility, since the great masses of the people in the very bottom of their hearts tend to be corrupted rather than consciously and purposely evil, and that, therefore, in view of the primitive simplicity of their minds they more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one..." Pfizer has learned well. There is NO evidence that in an otherwise healthy person measuring blood cholesterol and taking a statin to lower blood cholesterol will live any longer than not doing so. Even the Canadian Government in allowing the publication of these ads swallowed the big lie.

All primary prevention trials to date of cholesterol lowering with drugs (LRC-CPPT, WOSCOPS, ASCOT-LLA) have shown NO total mortality benefit.

Heart trials for diabetes medicines? - The agency wants its Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee to decide whether clinical trials to evaluate cardiovascular risks should be undertaken before the meds are approved or after marketing begins and the drugs are used by the population at large...more

Paxil and pregnancies - Much of the hoopla one reads about the controversial antidepressant concerns the risk of suicide and the extent to which the drugmaker disclosed - or did not disclose - meaningful clinical trial data...more

Doctors under the Influence?

Breathing easier at Merck and Schering? - Could it be? Are they getting a divorce over Vytorin? No, sorry to excite you. But the drugmakers are ending their respiratory joint venture and their eight-year effort to market a combination of their Claritin and Singulair medications, which are used to treat allergic rhinitis...more

Analyst takes up news space with BMS conjecture - The drugmaker looks increasingly attractive and a sale is a “distinct possibility,” according to Tim Anderson, a pharma analyst at Sanford Bernstein...more

Pharma's sinking reputation - The latest Harris Interactive poll that examines American attitudes toward corporate America offers a sobering view of and for the pharmaceutical industry. Only 26 percent of Americans view the industry favorably...more

Can't make this stuff up - A drug developed using nanotechnology and a fungus that contaminated a lab experiment may be broadly effective against a range of cancers, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday...more

Sweet home Alabama - A state court jury decided the two drugmakers defrauded Alabama in a long-running Medicaid drug pricing scheme and ordered them to pay more than $114 million in damages, the Associated Press reports...more

Pfizer rocking the CME funding world - In what may be a first, a drugmaker will still support continuing medical education courses at academic institutions, teaching hospitals and those supported by medical societies, but no longer directly support CME courses offered by for-profit medical-education and communication companies, Dow Jones reports...more

Xience (drug-eluting stent from Abbott) gets approval.

They do pass laws in D.C., after all - Earlier this year, the city became the first in the country to license sales reps, whose licenses can be revoked if their activities are deemed fraudulent. The bill was passed in hopes of enforcing good business practices on people who have undue influence over docs, and therefore patients...more

Every depression, though, has its bright spot -- and the bright spot here happens to be anti-depressants. Last year, for the sixth year in a row, anti-depressants ranked as the No. 1 therapeutic class of dispensed prescriptions in the United States. Americans filled more that 232 million prescriptions -- to the tune of nearly $12 billion in revenues, according to a March report by IMS Health.

Who knew that 16% of women ages 20-44 take antidepressants? This fact comes from a recent report by Medco Health Solutions (MHS), the pharmacy benefit manager. Medco also disclosed that, for the first time, a majority of the insured population is taking prescription drugs to treat at least one chronic health problem.

Diving deeper into anti-depressants, we asked Express Scripts (ESRX), another pharmacy benefit manager, to tell us which Fortune 500 companies represent the biggest consumers in terms of employee prescriptions. No go. Nor would Express Scripts reveal which industries account for the highest consumption. But the company does report that among its members, antidepressant use increased 33% from 2000 to 2006.

That’s a healthy market for sure. Where in the United States is the anti-depressant business most vibrant? Utah ranks No. 1., followed by Kentucky, Maine, Arkansas and Louisiana (are Utahans replacing drinks with drugs? Utah ranks at the bottom in alcohol consumption.). The lowest usage, meanwhile, is in Illinois, Nevada, California, New Jersey and New York. You might guess where antidepressant consumption spiked in the past few years. Alabama and Louisiana. Lingering damage from Hurricane Katrina? - Jessica Shambora

The consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut settles government claims that Pfizer violated the “National Emission Standards for Pharmaceuticals Production” and the “National Emission Standards for Organic Hazardous Air Pollutants for Equipment Leaks,” (PharmaMACT regulations) under the federal Clean Air Act.  The PharmaMACT regulations impose “Maximum Achievable Control Technology” (MACT) standards, which are industry-specific measures that must be implemented to control hazardous air pollutants in order to prevent harm to human health or the environment.  
     
The alleged violations, which occurred between October 2002 and December 2005, resulted from a failure of Pfizer’s leak detection and repair (LDAR) program at its former manufacturing plant in Groton.  Under the PharmaMACT regulations, the LDAR program set forth various equipment, testing and record-keeping requirements to ensure that any leaks of air pollutants from equipment used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products are timely detected and repaired.  The specific violations, associated with the production of bulk pharmaceutical materials, included a failure to properly conduct pressure tests to identify leaks, repair leaks before start-up, equip open-ended lines with a cap or other seal, and document leak tests to establish full compliance with the LDAR requirements.

During its production of pharmaceutical-grade chemicals, Pfizer used substances such as methanol, hydrogen chloride, methylene chloride, MTBE, hexane, toluene, and many others, which are classified by EPA as hazardous air pollutants under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act.

Statutory - Enacted, regulated, or authorized by statute.

Rape - To seize, take, or carry off by force.

This past Saturday, June 21, 2008, my wife and I got together with a bunch of local folks and fellow activists to celebrate the relocation, reconstruction and dedication of Susette Kelo's little pink house, the one made famous by the infamously, abominable US Supreme Court decision that essentially gutted constitutional protection for individual property rights. Even with the backdrop of a supposed "lost cause" the celebration was wonderful in its simplicity and its metaphors. More on that, later.

June 23, 2008 marks the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision which affirmed both the federal, state and local government's power to condemn and seize private property and give it to another private party, the justification being "economic development." In the words of former Justice Sandra Day-O'Connor, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory." In the case of Kelo, the City of New London, gave its power of eminent domain to a non-elected quasi-public, non-profit organization, the New London Development Corporation (NLDC) to seize private property in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood as a means to to proceed with a large-scale plan to replace a faded residential neighborhood with office space for research and development, a conference hotel, new residences and a pedestrian "riverwalk" along the Thames River. Today, three years after the decision, there has been no new construction. There is a great crop of weeds growing there, though. I guess that makes it a greenfield instead of a brownfield, right?

Although I have a lot more to say on the subject regarding the eminent domain fight in Fort Trumbull (I was the corresponding secretary for the Coalition to Save Fort Trumbull Neighborhood) I really want to focus for the time being on two questions considered by most people I've talked to on the subject and are reflected in Carla Main's insightful and moving book, "Bulldozed". In a RealClearPolitcs review of her book, Main looks at two questions. They are, first; "How the heck did we get to this point?" and secondly, after reading about some little, old lady getting kicked to the curb, "Who are these people? Who would do this sort of thing?"

These are two great questions to ask in considering how the State of Connecticut, the City of New London, and the NLDC gave us this colossal legal, political, and economic mess. Unfortunately, they had a little help from a citizenry that was caught sleeping. We got to this point initially because we were being shoveled a tidal wave of glowing fantasies that fed into a void of political leadership along with hunger for a more diverse and sustainable economy. As much has been made of how the city of New London had been down on its heels, it was logical that the locals were ready for a major course correction, reversing the direction and trends the city had been moving in. In 1997 the city, was deemed a distressed municipality needing a massive infusion of grand list vitality. It was a fact back then that 54% of the properties in the city were tax-exempt and there was very little land available for development. So, in that environment and on the heels of Pfizer Corporation's February 1998 announcement that their new "world-class, state-of-the-art" Global Research facility was being proposed for an abandoned site just south of the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, most of the residents in this seaside, maritime community believed their ship had come in. Tax dollars and an wave of new-found pride would overwhelm the decades-old malaise that had paralyzed the city and finally, New London would be reborn! Add to this mix a visionary in the form of Claire Gaudiani, president of Connecticut College and NLDC promising to turn the windblown, empty streets of New London into a thriving enclave of students, scientists, artists, and upwardly-mobile professionals. She promised lattes, ferries, parks, and, lest we forget...more trees! In the words of Guadiani, this transformation would result in New London becoming a "hip, little city."

With the NLDC ramping up their PR efforts for a "new" New London and Pfizer's promise of jobs, tax revenues, and a new professional culture, many New Londoners were bying into the dream. Then the details began to emerge. It was all laid out nicely in the new Fort Trumbull Municipal Development Plan. Remarkably, the MDP mirrored the plans that Pfizer made for the peninsula. Of course, Pfizer would deny the charge. And so would Claire Gaudiani, whose husband, David Burnett was the director of Pfizer Research University. No matter how much they denied it, Pfizer was the "elephant in the room" when it came to why the Fort Trumbull neighborhood was to be razed. Read Ted Mann's piece on "Pfizer's Fingerprints on the Fort Trumbull plan."

Over the years Gaudiani and the NLDC worked over the folks in the "Fort" neighborhood, yet consistently pointed to the reasoning that they were doing everything lawfully and with care and respect. As Gaudiani stated, "The NLDC followed every jot of the Connecticut law on planning." She said they (NLDC) were not only about doing good, but doing it well. Nevertheless, the folks on the other end of her "good" weren't doing all that well. But don't try to convince the NLDC that their overtures were nothing more than gracious and generous. In a recent letter to the editor, former NLDC board member, Steve Percy tendered the same artful pretense when he stated, "Financial offers to property owners in the Fort Trumbull area were so financially attractive most owners accepted. Only in the case of five of the six plaintiffs in Kelo vs. New London and with two other individual property owners, was NLDC forced to use eminent domain, a decision upheld by the court." Note Percy's ethos. It promotes the belief that NLDC was first, generous and secondly, did everything by the books. Both of these statements are insulting considering the facts. Gaudiani, Percy and other NLDC supporters like to contend that most everyone who accepted the NLDC's offers were happy with the offers. The fact is, (and I know this to be true because I talked to most of the residents of the Fort) a significant number did not want to sell or leave the neighborhood, but chose to do so because of the threat of eminent domain and the potential disruption of their lives due to ongoing demolition.

Considering that Percy and the NLDC were threatening eminent domain before the plan was certified (as required by law), they were violating state real estate statutes and redevelopment law. That's a matter of public record. Yet the NLDC continues to says they did everything according to the law.

On the other point, Percy refers to the amounts offered to the homeowers as attractive offers. Gaudiani agrees and stated:

All in all, not bad. Not that money solves all problems of relocation, but thinking of the greater good of the community and the need to build a stronger tax base to help the real “little people,” I have always believed this to be a very fair settlement process. Unfortunately, those who remained in the project area and chose to fight the taking in court may have a tougher time obtaining replacement property in New London. However, most of this property is rental property, not individually owned-and-occupied structures. Still, everyone still there will benefit by the decision of the state to offer them a premium to move on peacefully.

The premium Gaudiani refers to was the offer by the State of Connecticut to provide honest appraisals for the value of the properties in the Fort neighborhood. The state was obligated, now that the case was in the national public eye, to give the homeowners legitimate value to the properties Gaudiani once called, "highly marketable real estate." The fact is that Gaudiani and the NLDC wanted the properties on the cheap, yet were marketing them as extremely valuable.

Gaudiani's wacky utopian version of social justice is distorted when it comes to who pays for that justice. As she was heard to say, "Anything that's working in our great nation is working because somebody left skin on the sidewalk." Unfortunately, the skin she was referring to wasn't going to be her's or Percy's, but rather the skin of the weak, the poor, the undereducated, and the desperate. These are same folks she "uses" to be the reason for the needed increase in public funds that would come from the project. In the end though, her plan of social justice is another case of unjust weights. It does not make the person leaving their skin on the sidewalk whole. That's called justice. Although Gaudiani makes a big deal of the principal of the "common good," she fails to properly balance it with the important standard of "equity." This is apparent in her attempts to instruct on the constitutional provisions of eminent domain. She subscribes to an ethic that places the common good above the principle of private ownership of property. As the Fifth Amendment notes,

"No person shall ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

So ultimately, if the government decides that personal property is to be seized for things such a hotel, health club, housing, a museum, a hospital, or a college, then just compensation is to be made. But what is just compensation. Consider what Anthony Gregory of the Independent Institute says about it:

There is another major difficulty in these reform proposals, as well as in all talk of Eminent Domain in general, and that pertains to the muddled concept of "just compensation."

What is economic justice? In the market, any compensation that is voluntarily agreed upon by both parties to a transaction is properly seen as just. If buyer and seller or employer and employee are both willing to make a deal, their freedom to do so, at any mutually agreeable price, is the fulfillment of justice in the world of economic exchange.

Interference with this freedom, in the form of wage or price controls, taxation, or the outright prohibition of certain goods, is an injustice, an attack on the foundations of private property and on civilization itself.

The state, unlike market participants, does not make its transactions through voluntary persuasion and bargaining, but through violence and the threat of violence. Certainly in the case of Eminent Domain — which means "supreme lordship" — we see that the victims of seized assets have never consented, otherwise a pure exchange could take place that requires no police power. No such coerced transaction can be said to entail "just compensation," since compensation is only just when the party being compensated agrees to the deal.

Oftentimes, the state claims it is offering a "fair market value" for the property it seeks to seize, but this is a sham. The market price for something is, by definition, the price that both parties consent to. In a fair market exchange, each party gives up something he values less for something he values more, or else he wouldn't agree to it.

It is only through such a voluntary transaction that we can determine what something's market value is in the first place. Market value is not universal, but particular to the assets exchanged in a specific transaction. For any given piece of property, there can be no market value without market exchange.

When the state has to rely on the coercive power of Eminent Domain, it is a sure sign that the property owner is not being given something he values more in exchange for something he values less, and it is a perversion of language to describe the compensation, however high, as having anything to do with the market.

The essential dilemma and resulting irony that Gaudiani's "common good" creates is that by advocating for eminent domain's use in the Fort Trumbull project, she signed on to a system that victimizes those with the least ability to advocate for themselves. Put simply, when she couldn't convince by reason, she resorted to blunt force. Fortunately, the plaintiffs in the Kelo case were lucky to have a pro bono advocate in the Institute for Justice. Otherwise Gaudiani and the NLDC would have continued the pillaging of property and personal liberties with abandon and the blessing of the law. For Gaudiani, a member of the National Council for a Civil Society, it must be quite a dilemma to see her actions in the Fort Trumbull conflict being recognized as a model of tyranny and corruption. While she promoted a civil process, her organization represented the classic conflict between aristocrats and the proletariat. In the end, the NLDC decided to use the right of a government to forcibly seize the property of those living the American Dream for a risky venture. Essentially, their act was one of "Statutory Rape."

"Great God in Heaven, save us from the humanitarians who are generous with the lives of other people's sons. Amen."— Tom Eddlem, "The Non-Interventionist's Prayer"

Related Articles:

National Center Blog - Amy Ridenour

Endgame in New London - Reason Magazine

One Giant Leap toward Fascist America - Atlas Society

Kelo-New London Aftermath - NewsBusters

New London Eminent Domain Case - OLR

New London Development Corporation Case Study

New London Property Rights Case - Institute for Justice

Eminent Latitude - Washington Post

]]> http://medicalmyths.wordpress.com/?p=8 Thu, 10 May 2007 12:23:47 +0000 Colin Rose http://medicalmyths.wordpress.com/?p=8 Well, it finally happened. The statin peddlers convinced WHO to add statins to the list of essential drugs.

But look at who was behind the initiative, Dr Gotto

Dr. Gotto receives many thousands of dollars from statin peddlers.

Here is a disclosure statement from a recent publication

"Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., MD, DPhil, serves as a consultant for
AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson-Merck, Kos
Pharmaceuticals, Kowa, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck-Schering Plough,
Novartis, Pfizer Inc, and Reliant Pharmaceuticals."

Surely this should have been mentioned in the Cornell press release.

Personally, I refuse to take any advice from anyone who receives even one cent from a drug dealer.

I completely agree with Dr Kishore's statement:

"Increasingly, 'Western' high-fat diets, tobacco use and urbanization have
helped make heart disease a bigger killer than 'The Big Three'—HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria—combined."

Indeed, high risk individuals have high risk lifestyles.

But the FIRST thing to do is change the diet and eliminate tobacco BEFORE labeling statins essential drugs. To do otherwise will reduce any incentive to improve lifestyle and make the obesity and diabetes pandemic even worse.

Do you think that the "developing" world is going to be happy with generic simvastatin? Not likely. They are going to start demanding patented Crestor and Vytorin, just like the rich Americans.

Cubans take no statins but live longer than Americans? If statins are not essential in Cuba, why should they be in Africa?
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Weill Cornell Medical College Students Help Change Global Health Policy

NEW YORK (May 21, 2007) – In a move to improve global public health, Weill
Cornell Medical College students have helped place a lifesaving heart
disease drug onto the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of essential
medicines. This list is a guideline for developing countries to choose which
high-priority drugs should be supplied to their citizens inexpensively.

Students from Weill Cornell's chapter of Universities Allied for Essential
Medicines (UAEM) answered the charge of Dr. David Skorton, President of
Cornell University, and Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of Weill Cornell
Medical College, to "seek new strategies for Cornell to advance public
health" across the globe.

"I am extremely proud that the students at Weill Cornell Medical College
have had such an admirable influence on global health policy," says Dr.
Skorton, who is also a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics. "Such
actions by our students show the promise of their future leadership."

"Adding this medicine to the list of essential medicines represents an
exceptional achievement by our students," says Dr. Gotto, an internationally
renowned expert in heart disease prevention, who served as the senior
advisor for the project. "Because of the students' success, over 150
national governments that work with WHO will be encouraged to recognize
heart disease as a serious health concern deserving of great medical
attention."

UAEM comprises a national group of students whose goal is to determine how
universities can help ensure that biomedical products, including medicines,
are made more accessible in poor countries and further the amount of
research conducted on neglected diseases affecting the poor.

"For years, it was thought that heart disease was a concern of affluent
countries. But, today, nearly 80 percent of all deaths due to heart disease
occur in the developing world," says Sandeep Kishore, an MD-PhD student at
Weill Cornell Medical College who helped spearhead the initiative with UAEM.
"Increasingly, 'Western' high-fat diets, tobacco use and urbanization have
helped make heart disease a bigger killer than 'The Big Three'—HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis and malaria—combined."

Kishore and Ben Herbstman, UAEM members, petitioned WHO that simvastatin
(Zocor)—originally manufactured by Merck—be added to the list. Simvastatin
was selected based on its worldwide availability, cost-effectiveness and the
interest of generic firms in producing it. Such statin medicines have been
shown to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) levels, commonly
known as "bad cholesterol," by 25-30 percent in individuals at high-risk for
heart disease.

Last month, the students from UAEM -- with the assistance of medical
librarians from Weill Cornell's Samuel J. Wood Library & C.V. Starr
Biomedical Information Center -- were successful in their efforts to get a
generic version of Zocor included on the list of essential medicines. Now,
the United Nations and other philanthropic foundations can donate large
numbers of the statin drug to the national pharmaceutical inventories of
developing countries.

Furthermore, generic versions of the medicine will be sold at a fraction of
their original price tag. The drug will cost as little as $40 per year per
person—10 cents a day—down from nearly $1,200 a couple of years ago.

The announcement comes on the heels of Cornell University's new Africa
Initiative, a university-wide movement to promote sub-Saharan African
development and health.
The Weill Cornell chapter of UAEM has hosted an ongoing series of global
health events. On June 15, the former CEO of Merck, Inc., Dr. Roy Vagelos,
will present a lecture titled "Corporations Can and Should Do Social Good"
in a seminar exploring new academic-pharmaceutical alliances to increase
access to medicines worldwide.
Weill Cornell Medical College

Weill Cornell Medical College—located in New York City—is committed to
excellence in research, teaching, patient care and the advancement of the
art and science of medicine. Weill Cornell, which is a principal academic
affiliate of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, offers an innovative curriculum
that integrates the teaching of basic and clinical sciences, problem-based
learning, office-based preceptorships, and primary care and doctoring
courses. Physicians and scientists of Weill Cornell Medical College are
engaged in cutting-edge research in such areas as stem cells, genetics and
gene therapy, geriatrics, neuroscience, structural biology, cardiovascular
medicine, AIDS, obesity, cancer and psychiatry—and continue to delve ever
deeper into the molecular basis of disease in an effort to unlock the
mysteries behind the human body and the malfunctions that result in serious
medical disorders. Weill Cornell Medical College is the birthplace of many
medical advances—from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to
the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy
and birth in the U.S., and most recently, the world's first clinical trial
for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. Weill Cornell's Physician
Organization includes 650 clinical faculty, who provide the highest quality
of care to their patients. For more information, visit www.med.cornell.edu.

Contact:
Andrew Klein
(212) 821-0560
ank2017@med.cornell.edu

Sandeep Kishore
(917) 733-1973
sunny.kishore@gmail.com

# # #

--
Sandeep P. Kishore, M.Sc.
Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) Fellow
Weill Cornell / The Rockefeller University / Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Institute
Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program
420 East 70th St, Suite 10M
New York, New York, USA 10021
email: sunny.kishore@gmail.com
tel: (917) 733 -1973
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