Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Until March 2008, the major public relations firm Burson-Marsteller counted among its clients the Pakistan People's Party, as the Center for Media and Democracy previously reported. Burson-Marsteller promised to influence U.S.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
At a December 2 "wonky event" on the "future of energy policy" sponsored by Third Way, there was a remarkably "wide range of groups represented around the table," writes Kate Sheppard.
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Michael Scherer takes a look at the Center for American Progress (CAP), which has become "the most influential independent organization in Obama's nascent Washington." Scherer notes that CAP was founded just five years ago by John Podesta as a deliberate attempt to imitate the previous success of conservative
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
As part of a broader public relations and lobbying push, Kazakhstan's government paid Johns Hopkins University to author three reports about the country. The arrangement was brokered through APCO Worldwide, Kazakhstan's Washington DC lobbying firm.
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
Daniel Troy served as chief counsel for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2001 to 2004. Starting September 2, 2008, he will be head counsel for the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Next week, I will moderate a panel titled "Beyond the Phony 'Debate': Government Science and the Climate Crisis" in Washington, DC. In case I needed any proof that the climate is important, last month's flooding in the Midwest gave me a personal look at what the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was talking about last year when it warned of "an increased chance of intense precipitation and flooding due to the greater water-holding capacity of a warmer atmosphere."
The photograph at right shows a road not far from my home in Portage, Wisconsin that was damaged during the floods. In Sauk County, just a few miles from where I live, officials estimated that 95 percent of the roads were damaged. The seven states where the flooding occurred are still trying to assess the cost of the disaster, but it is already clear that the damages will run into billions of dollars.
In Lake Delton, about 20 miles from Portage, the water broke through a dam, causing the entire lake (600 million gallons of water) to drain into the Wisconsin River, washing away several homes in its path. The Wisconsin River passes through Portage. Like other local residents, I spent some time at the levee, gawking at the rising waters and watching for bits of other people's homes as they floated downstream.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The U.S. government-funded Arabic news channel Alhurra "paid former Bush and Clinton administration officials, lobbyists and high-profile Washington journalists tens of thousands of dollars in U.S.
We know from Scott McClellan, the former White House Spokesman, in his recent book, What Happened, that President Bush insists on discipline in messaging. Although the publics on both sides of the Atlantic have gotten to the point of heavily discounting what he says, the President's desire for control can give us a sense of the thrust of policy. This is certainly true with respect to Iran.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The multinational law firm Hunton & Williams -- whose clients include Altria, DTE Energy, General Dynamics and Pfizer -- has launched The
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The Center for Science in the Public Interest points out that ExxonMobil has just announced "for the second consecutive year" that it is cutting funding to groups which promote skepticism about global warming.
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