PR Watch editor Sheldon Rampton will be speaking next week in several cities in the eastern U.S. as part of an authors' tour in connection with the paperback release of our book, Trust Us, We're Experts. Upcoming book appearances include:

In December of 2000, journalist Hal Herring revealed in High Country News that "the sale of velvet antler from domestic elk in North America is estimated by its proponents to be a $3 billion industry. Korea is still the primary destination for most velvet products, but promoters have created a demand in the U.S. alternative medicine and nutritional supplement market." This lucrative business of grinding up elk antlers and selling them as nutritional supplements amounts to a world-wide uncontrolled experiment in transmitting CWD (also called 'mad deer' or 'mad elk' disease) to humans.

In a new report, Defenders of Wildlife and the Natural Resources Defense Council examine the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). "While ALEC purports to be a 'good-government' group operating in the public interest, its sole mission is to advance special-interest legislation across the nation on behalf of its corporate sponsors and funders," the report says. "The organization's behind-the-scenes advocacy has been surprisingly effective -- leading, according to ALEC material, to the enactment of more than 450 state laws during the 1999 and 2000 state legislative sessions.