May 3, 2007

"Now They Want to Shape the Minds of Young Lawyers"

Big Pharma Gets Its Hooks into Seton Hall Law School

By CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER

For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has marinated the medical profession in millions of dollars of free samples, lunches, trips, and fees.

The goal–influence, power, profits.

Now, the industry has another target–the legal profession.

Last week, industry leaders Schering-Plough Corporation, sanofi-aventis, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb and the pharma law firm Gibbons PC–announced that they will donate a total of $9.1 million to establish the Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law at Seton Hall Law School in Newark, New Jersey.

"This is what they have been doing with doctors for the last five decades–shaping young doctors’ minds," said Peter Rost, a former vice president at Pfizer, CounterPunch contributor and author of The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman (Soft Skull Press, 2006). "Now they want to shape the minds of young lawyers."

continued at http://counterpunch.org/ccr05032007.html

These pictures are from Mexico trips in 2005 (to Puerto Morelos which is about 45 minutes from Cancun) and from the Guadalajara area this year.  I used a disposible camera and the picture quality is just alright.  Some of the pictures are odd - I just like the colours and combinations.

I had to look in my passport to see if I went to Mexico in 2006 - I did (San Miguel and hot springs!)  As I have been there so often I didn’t even take a camera but I now regret this as it would be nice to have a picture of Amira, a woman I met at the hot springs from Guadalajara (she used to work at the Tequila Museum!) and spent a couple of days hanging out with.

I particularly liked the Bull Bar in Guadalajara - it is a few blocks from the central plaza.  I will definately go back to Guadalajara area and Barra de Navidad.  From Vancouver, I keep hearing people rave about Air Alaska to Guadalajara.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo for history.