Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
After 15-year court battle, Pfizer reluctantly compensates Nigerian families whose loved ones injured, killed by illegal drug experiment
http://www.naturalnews.com/033358_Pfizer_drug_experiments.html
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Bill Weldon, chair and chief executive of Johnson & Johnson Pays $8.5M For Florida beachfront Lots ... As Johnson & Johnson Cuts some 8,000 Jobs
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2009/11/jj_ceo_william_weldon_pays_845.htmlBy Ed Silverman
November 3rd, 2009 3:07 pm
Just a week before announcing that Johnson & Johnson will cut some 8,000 jobs, J&J chair and chief executive Bill Weldon plunked down $8.45 million for two adjacent vacant waterfront lots in North Palm Beach, Fl., and he bought them from former General Electric chair and chief executive Jack Welch, according to The Palm Beach Daily News and brought to our attention by Bnet.
The properties are listed as 1264 Lake Worth Lane in Lost Tree Village with 113 feet of water frontage for $2.975 million and 1284 Lake Worth Lane, with 111 feet of frontage, for $5 million, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office records, the paper writes. Several realtors advertise exclusive properties in the enclave (see here and here).
One of the realtors has this to say: “Lost Tree…is known for its Ocean, intracoastal, golf course, and lake views…There are homes on Lake Worth with wide water views and deep water ocean access, golf cottages located near the private golf course, and homes on interior lakes in this beautiful community. Lost Tree offers a private 18 hole golf course, 8 tennis courts, private beach…a beautiful beach club with a private restaurant open 2 days a week for dinner and for lunches most of the year.”
As for J&J employees? Some will be canvassing severance packages, COBRA health plans and, possibly, unemployment benefits. “These types of changes are difficult under any circumstances, and will have a very personal impact on people who have been dedicated to the mission of Johnson & Johnson,” Weldon says in today’s statement about the reorganization. Well, if nothing else, he’s stimulating the economy, albeit a well-to-do pocket.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal | Johnson and Johnson Plans Staff Cut Of Up to 8,200 Jobs
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) announced several restructuring moves Tuesday, including cutting its workforce of nearly 120,000 employees by up to 7 percent. J&J will take other restructuring moves in order to save up to $900 million next year. While the job cuts prompted a restructuring charge of up to $1.3 billion pretax in the fourth quarter, J&J confirmed guidance. JNJ shares climbed some 2 percent ahead of the bell.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Highest Paid Under 40 - Which young executives at public companies raked it in -- and how much did they earn?
1. Matt Maddox
CFO & Treasurer
Wynn Resorts (WYNN)
Age: 34
2008 Total compensation*: $17.66 million
The house may always win, but Wynn Resorts' CFO is on a streak: Since joining the company in 2002 to head financial operations at the Wynn Resort in Macau, Maddox rose quickly up the corporate ladder and last year was promoted to CFO of the company.
Now he oversees the entire cash flow of Steve Wynn's casino and hotel empire. And he's become a high roller pay-wise too: With a base salary of $593,590, stock options worth more than $11 million, and stock awards worth more than $5 million, Maddox tops our list of highest-paid public company executives under age 40.
2. James R. Murdoch
Chairman and CEO, Europe and Asia
News Corp. (NWSA)
Age: 36
2008 Total compensation*: $10.15 million
The second son of media titan Rupert Murdoch -- older brother Lachlan left his job at News Corp. in 2005 but still sits on the board -- James is the heir apparent to his father's $33 billion empire (and No. 3 on our 40 Under 40 list).........
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Energy-Daily.com | LockMart And Black And Veatch Team To Help Utilities Upgrade Energy Grid
Monday, August 10, 2009
(Reuters) – U.S. Sec of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Angola on Sunday in a bid to bolster opportunities for US business in the major oil producer
RELATED:
:: Chevron makes Angolan oil find
Chevron Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) is the world's fourth largest non-government energy company. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, USA, and active in more than 180 countries, it is engaged in every aspect of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation. Chevron is one of the world's six "supermajor" oil companies.
Board of directors
As of April 2007:
-
- David J. O'Reilly (Chairman & CEO)
- Samual Armacost:
- Managing director of Weiss, Peck & Greer L.L.C. from 1990 until 1998.
- Managing director of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets from 1987 until 1990.
- President, director and chief executive officer of BankAmerica Corporation from 1981 until 1986.
- Linnet F. Deily
- Robert Denham
- Robert James Eaton: He was the Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Corporation from 1993 until 1998. In that position, he was responsible for the sale of Chrysler Corporation to Daimler-Benz which formed DaimlerChrysler[1]
- Sam Ginn
- Franklyn Jenifer
- Sam Nunn: Currently the co-chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, Nunn served for 24 years as a United States Senator from Georgia (1972 until 1997) as a member of the Democratic Party. His political experience and credentials on national defense reportedly put him into consideration as a potential running mate for Democratic candidate John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election. There was speculation that he could have been the running mate of Democratic candidate Barack Obama in 2008.[1] Nunn is an informal advisor to President Obama.
- Donald Rice: California businessman and senior government official. He has been president and chief executive officer of several large companies including RAND Corporation, and has sat on numerous boards of directors, including Wells Fargo & Company. Rice also served as the seventeenth Secretary of the Air Force, 1989-93.
- Peter Robertson
- Charles Shoemate
- Ronald Sugar: has been chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman Corporation, a global defense company, since 2003.
- Carl Ware: In 1979, he was named Vice President of Special Markets for Coca-Cola USA, with responsibility for expanding African-American and Hispanic marketing and advertising programs. In 1982, Ware was promoted to Vice President of Urban Affairs. In 1986, he was elected Senior Vice President of Coca Cola. Ware was named Deputy Group President, Northeast Europe and Africa in 1991, and was appointed president of the Africa Group in 1993.[2] Ware was elected a director of Chevron Corporation in 2001. He is a former senior adviser to the chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Co., a position he held from 2003 to 2006. He also sits on the board of directors of the Council on Foreign Relations and Georgia Power.
Condoleezza Rice is a former member of the board of directors, and also headed Chevron's committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001, to become National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
RussiaToday.com | Chocolate’s secret ingredient – child slavery
Chocolate is a sweet business with disgusting ingredients – like child slavery. Attempts are being made to change the industry by pressing consumers, but Interpol says – free the children, prosecute the criminals.
Fifty-four children of seven different nationalities were rescued from plantations, and eight people were arrested in connection with the illegal recruitment of children during a two-day operation in Cote d’Ivoire, codenamed “BIA”.
Work conditions
Interpol says the plantation owners had bought the children, between ages 11 and 16, due to the need for cheap labor for harvesting. “They were discovered working under extreme conditions, forced to carry massive loads, seriously jeopardizing their health.”
These children were completely unaware of their rights or the fact that what was happening to them was illegal, Interpol reported. “They would regularly work 12 hours a day and receive no salary or education. Girls were usually purchased as housemaids and would work a seven-day week all year round, often in addition to their duties in the plantation.”
Cote d’Ivoire is the world’s largest cocoa producer. Add Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon into the equation and West Africa is the world’s largest cocoa producing region. It is also a region whose foul record of forced labor has been repeatedly exposed and generally ignored.
“Perhaps the most dangerous task from the standpoint of health and safety,” reported the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), “is the application of noxious pesticides.” Children are reportedly forced to work with dangerous chemicals and not provided with safety equipment.
They are also forced to use machetes. “An estimated 146,000 children under the age of 15 were clearing plantations using machetes…” the IITA said of their investigation.
Chocolate companies
Activists have pled with consumers to hold chocolate companies accountable. There have been exposés as well as pressure on companies to hold producers accountable, but the prevalence of child labor remains an unfortunate reality in chocolate.
Cocoa’s first consumers are chocolate companies, which could clean up the industry by refusing to buy beans produced by children.
The International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) has a scorecard to assess the progress companies are making in their alleged efforts to stop exploiting child labor. It shows that if chocolate-makers had the same motivation to make chocolate as they are in fighting child slavery, the industry would have crumbled long ago.
Although the battle began in 2001, Hershey “continues to drag its feet in dealing with child and trafficked labor in its supply chain,” reports ILRF. “Like Mars and Nestle, Hershey has not effectively produced transparency or accountability…”
Nestle has been a main target of reformers because “unlike other chocolate manufacturers Nestle directly sources cocoa from West Africa and has direct control over its supply chain…” says ILRF.
Many other companies buy cocoa beans that include an assortment from non-African producers.
A hefty price tag doesn’t offer any assurance either. Even high-end chocolate retailer Godiva has not done much to clarify how they source their cocoa or the standards required of suppliers, according to their scorecard.
The illicit ingredient in chocolate is becoming less secret, but still producers appear confident enough that consumers will spend despite the negative publicity. Efforts to make retail consumers aware have resulted in a fair trade market.
Customers who purchase chocolate with the fair trade stamp are also supposed to receive peace of mind, knowing that the supply chain is being watched and regulated.
The enforcement approach
Interpol saved a small group, but it is believed that hundreds of thousands of children are still laboring away on cocoa plantations. Reports and internet campaigns aiming to break the link between child slavery and chocolate continue to circulate. However, enforcement could bring change much faster and more effectively.
BIA was Interpol’s first West African child trafficking operation, but it won’t be the last. Another operation is planned for later this year in Ghana.
Michelle Smith for RT
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Lou Dobbs 2006: NAFTA highway business interests force US to keep borders open during future swine flu pandemics
I found this by accident yesterday. At the closed and almost secret Security and Prosperity Partnership meetings between Bush and leaders from Canada and Mexico, where they hammered out the deal for the so-called “NAFTA highway” through Mexico, the US and Canada, Lou Dobbs reported back in 2006 that “business interests” forced the US to agree to keep the borders open at all times, even during–specifically– A SWINE FLU PANDEMIC!
“… SPP documents urging the free flow of goods and people across borders, and a wish list from business interests that borders remain open during a swine flu pandemic.”
Watch the video. The quoted line can be found at 2:00:
Interestingly the NAFTA highway goes through Kansas City, where the swine flu has already broken out.