Secrecy

Telling It Like It Is

The director of external relations for Procter & Gamble, Mark Chakravarty, recently told a UK healthcare PR conference that the drug industry is less than popular with the public. "There is a high suspicion of the pharma industry. Greed, dishonesty and fraud are some of its associations. The clinical trial press this week and an increased number of drug scandals add to this image," he said.

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Great Wall of Silence About Tibetan Protests

Protest in Northeastern Tibet "China has begun to fight back against criticism of its handling of the Tibetan protests," during which protesters have been killed, with a "sustained publicity offensive as well as blocking foreign broadcasters and websites and denying journalists access to areas of unrest," reports The Guardian.

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Adios, Online Privacy

The National Security Agency, once known for its skill in eavesdropping on the world's telephone calls, is adapting to the times by "focusing on widespread monitoring of e-mail messages and text messages, recording of Web browsing, and other forms of electronic data-mining, all done without court supervision," reports Declan McCu

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Despite Congressional Direction and Funding, EPA Libraries Remain Closed

The Environmental Protection Agency began closing several of its libraries in 2006 due to a shrinking budget. But the agency did not take into account how access to important environmental data would be blocked for legislators, researchers and citizens.

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Anti-Taxation with Tobacco Representation

Smoking Burning MoneyR.J. Reynolds (RJR) may be funding a South Carolina anti-tax group to oppose a cigarette tax for health care. The Cover Carolina Collaborative, a group of health care organizations, is proposing that the state's tax be raised to $1.00 a pack, to help cover uninsured employees. South Carolina currently has the lowest cigarette tax in the nation, at seven cents a pack.

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