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World's Poor Pay Price As Crop Research Is Cut

2008-05-17T21:04:27Z

The brown plant hopper, an insect no bigger than a gnat, is multiplying by the billions and chewing through rice paddies in East Asia, threatening the diets of many poor people.

The damage to rice crops, occurring at a time of scarcity and high prices, could have been prevented. Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute here say that they know how to create rice varieties resistant to the insects but that budget cuts have prevented them from doing so.

Is Best Buy Buying Netflix?

2008-05-17T18:02:37Z

A reader says there was chatter to that effect this afternoon, as Netflix (NFLX) pushed 6% higher on high volume.

Would this make sense? Only if Best Buy (BBY) has been persuaded that the Blockbuster (BBI) - Circuit City (CCI) deal makes sense, which we certainly haven't.

On the "why not?" side, a Best Buy - Netflix combination would of course be vastly more powerful than a Blockbuster - Circuit City combination---because it would be two No. 1's vs. two No. 2's and because Netflix is stronger than Blockbuster in the only business that could provide real synergy: mail-order subscriptions and digital downloads.

Bush says Saudi oil boost doesn't solve US problem

2008-05-17T17:53:53Z

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — President Bush said Saudi Arabia's small increase in oil production will not solve soaring U.S. fuel prices, but he defended the wealthy kingdom Saturday against American lawmakers "screaming the loudest" for Riyadh to open its spigots.

Bush also encountered bitter Arab criticism that he favors Israel too heavily and was bluntly questioned by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about whether he is serious about peacemaking. Bush said he was "absolutely committed" to reaching an Israeli-Palestinian agreement by the end of his presidency next January. But there was no sign during Bush's five-day Mideast trip that the two sides are moving closer toward an accord.

"It breaks my heart to see the vast potential of the Palestinian people really wasted," Bush said. Pledging the creation of an independent homeland, Bush said "It'll be an opportunity to end the suffering that takes place in the Palestinian territories."

With Israel's occupation of Arab lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war entering its fifth decade, most Palestinians live in dire poverty.

On the last stop of his travels, Bush held a rapid-fire series of diplomatic meetings at this posh Red Sea resort, famous for its brilliantly clear waters and sea-snorkling reefs. After talks with Mubarak, Bush saw Afghan President Hamid Karzai and had dinner with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On Sunday, he will confer with the leaders of Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq. He said every meeting advances prospects for peace.

As oil prices hit another record high on Friday, Saudi King Abdullah rebuffed Bush's request for higher oil production to take the pressure off prices. The high prices are a political nightmare in a presidential election year for Bush and his would-be Republican successor, Sen. John McCain. Bush said he cautioned the king about the repercussions of skyrocketing prices.

"I said very plainly, I said, `You've got to be concerned about the effects of high oil prices on some of the biggest customers in the world. And not only that, of course, high energy prices (are) going to cause countries like mine to accelerate our move toward alternative energy."

Saudi officials said the kingdom was pumping all the oil that its customers want and that production had been increased by 300,000 barrels a day earlier this month.

"It's something, but it doesn't solve our problem," Bush said. "Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy, and continue our strategy for the advancement of alternative energies, as well as conservation."

Rather than criticize the Saudis, Bush turned his fire on Democrats back home threatening to kill a $1.4 billion arms sale to Riyadh unless it pumps at least 1 million additional barrels a day.

"One of the interesting things about American politics these days is those who are screaming the loudest for increased production from Saudi Arabia are the very same people who are fighting the fiercest against domestic exploration, against the development of nuclear power, and against expanding refining capacity," Bush said, standing on a manicured lawn overlooking the sea after talks with Karzai.

The president's first appointment was with 80-year-old Mubarak, who has led an authoritarian government in Egypt since 1981. In unusually blunt criticism, Egypt's state-owned press attacked Bush for his speech Thursday before the Israeli Knesset. The media accused Bush of being overly supportive of the Israelis and not mentioning the Palestinians' plight.

"The Torah-inspired speech of Bush raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East," wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the state-owned press. "Bush aims to do nothing but appeasing Israel."

Bush, in his address Thursday, showered Israel with praise, strongly reiterated its right to defend itself and only gently urged leaders to "make the hard choices necessary," without mention of concrete steps. He did not visit the Palestinian territories nor mention the Palestinians' plight. He spoke of them only in one sentence saying that Israel's 120th anniversary _ in 2068 _ would see it neighboring an independent Palestinian state.

Bush said Mubarak "wanted to make sure that my approach toward the Middle Eastern peace is firm, and that we work hard to get the Palestinian state defined." Bush said that "I believe we can get a state defined by the end of my presidency, and we'll work hard to achieve that objective."

He repeated those assurances later to Abbas. The Palestinian leader said that "we are working very seriously and very aggressively with the hope that we will be able to achieve this objective before the end of the year."

Bush said he and Abbas agreed on their concern about "radical elements undermining" the U.S.-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

"This is a defining moment," he said. "It is a moment that requires us to stand strongly with the Saniora government and to support the Saniora government."

The militant group Hezbollah overran Beirut neighborhoods last week in protest of measures aimed at the group by Saniora's government, a display of power that shocked and concerned the West. The violence only ended when Lebanon's Cabinet reversed the measures and Saniora's government reached a deal with the Shiite militant group, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. Bush had planned to meet with Saniora in Egypt on Sunday, but the session was canceled.

Japan Running Out Of Engineers

2008-05-17T17:31:21Z

Japan is running out of engineers.

After years of fretting over coming shortages, the country is actually facing a dwindling number of young people entering engineering and technology-related fields.

DOT Tells Airlines To Report Tarmac Delays Fully

2008-05-17T16:28:01Z

The Department of Transportation said on Friday that it would require airlines to give fuller accountings about what has become a bane of modern air travel -- delays on the tarmac -- and is taking several steps to reduce delays around New York City.

Noting that in the past airlines did not always have to disclose how long their aircraft were delayed after leaving the gate, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said the lines would now have to provide "complete on-time and tarmac-delay data," about flights that are canceled after leaving the gate and flights that are diverted to another airport.

US Faces July 4th Fireworks Shortage

2008-05-17T16:16:44Z

An explosion that destroyed 20 fireworks warehouses in China three months ago will probably dim night skies in the United States this Fourth of July.

Fireworks vendors said that because of the sudden shortage, fireworks like bottle rockets, ladyfingers and Roman candles, as well as mortars used in professional displays, will be hard to get, meaning many of the usual pyrotechnic extravaganzas across the country may have to be curtailed or even canceled.

Danny Schechter: Is Who Becomes the Next President All That Matters?

2008-05-16T23:56:36Z

BERLIN, MAY 13, 2008: I know. I know. How this is the most important election in history, and why the next occupant of the White House will not only be answering the red phone at 3 AM but possibly be saving these not always United States from the decline that even TIME Magazine has announced the country is facing.

Yet, as I travel outside the country, I can't help but feel, or is it fear, that this logic leaves out some rather important considerations.

Like the fact that the US cannot unilaterally impose its will on the world anymore as our dollar falls and our credibility falls with it. Even a strategy of negotiation as opposed to confrontation is not a recipe for success because in a multi-polar world, other countries and power blocs like the Russians, the Chinese, the EU, The Persian Gulf and OPEC have their own interests. They will listen to our proposals but may reject them if they are at variance with their own needs.

We just don't have the power to impose our will even as we still suffer from "the USA is number one" syndrome and think that we can kick ass and take names if anyone stands in our way.

Whoever becomes president may not have the power he or she assumes goes with the office. (In fact, after the fact, in their memoirs, most presidents complain they often felt powerless, besieged by lobbyists, party factions and reticent bureaucrats at every turn. They see themselves constrained by institutional obstacles at every turn.)

In many ways, Mao was right, the occupant of the oval office is a paper tiger.

In this new world, if we want others to do our bidding, we can't threaten to obliterate them or strut around like Mighty Mouse when so many in the world see us as the Mouse that Roared.

So many of our problems today are global, and shared by others. Globalization has assured that. We are all impacted by global threats like climate change, escalating food prices, world hunger, endemic poverty, and pandemic disease that the White House can't wave a magic wand to cure. Sadly, most Americans are not educated about these issues and the press downplays them.

Even when we cause problems, like the mortgage collapse, markets worldwide feel the pain in an internationally entangled financial system where we are dependent on monies from China. Meanwhile others invest in the US to keep their own profits up and compete with our companies on our home ground.

Sure, we are a militarily powerful but apparently not powerful or smart enough to subdue Iraq or Afghanistan after five years. Our warriors on terror have yet to capture Bin Laden or even neutralize the Taliban. The truth is the Democratic candidates don't think they can tell the military what to do and so have withdrawal plans that will take years. That's the reality.
The military industrial complex often has a mind of its own

And so does Wall Street which won't take marching orders from any president. Both Clinton and Bush turned to Goldman Sachs to run the Treasury and it's not clear if their former execs were ambassadors to The Street or from the Street. Financial power trumps political power in a country dominated by a corporate system.

Who can impose an excess profits tax on Big Oil? Who will dare?

In fact, look at the credit crisis. It started with the mortgage meltdown of August 2007. At least one million families have lost their homes. Another two and half million are threatened. The New York Times reports that even their storage spaces are now being auctioned off because many folks can't afford the monthly charges. The ONION jokes that a family burned their stimulus check because they can't afford heat. Sometimes fiction like this gets to the heart of "faction

Times' Business columnist Gretchen Morgenson notes that in all these months of obvious economic calamity, NOTHING meaningful has been done by our government to help people in need, writing, "as the great American credit crash continues to reverberate, we still have nothing that resembles an intelligent and comprehensive plan for dealing with mass foreclosures and the economic consequences associated with the debacle."

Why? There is a ideological clash of course. That's obvious. An administration that has foreclosed on the American Dream cares as much about our homeowners as it did about the victims of Katrina.

But beyond that, they don't know what to do; they have no "fix." There may not be one. We are dealing not with a political debate but a structural crisis of American capitalism in an era of waning Empire. We can throw money at these problems as we probably should but they are all intricate and subject to pressure politics. When The Senate run by Democrats tried to bring relief to distressed homeowners, their final bill was shameful with more giveaways to home builders and lenders than mortgagees.

So, let's temper our expectations about what the candidate of our choice can actually get done a system of many checks but very little balance. The presidency is a bully pulpit. The president can lead but Congress need not follow. Sure, change is needed, and badly, but the changes being proposed -- like a summer time tax break at the pump won't do much about the deeper energy crisis. Many of the proposals being debated are tinkering with deeply flawed policies. They aim to bail the water out of the Titanic while it is sinking

Unfortunately, our scandal obsessed "Gotcha" media is useless in explaining or investigating these deeper problems. Its focus us only on the horse race. Cable news is increasingly a pundit heavy distraction machine, where opinionizing has replaced reporting, and, yes, still a Weapon of Mass Deception as one film I made years ago argued.

Please think about this, and what's not being covered. Sorry to rain on the parade as the primaries roll on and the excitement builds like in a sports event.

Who is the next president matters, matters deeply, but is that all that matters?

News Dissector Danny Schechter blogs for Medachannel.org. He directed In Debt We Trust (indebtwetrust.org) and has finished a book on the financial crisis called PLUNDER. Comments to Dissector@mediachannel.org

Robert Mondavi, California Winemaking Pioneer, Dies

2008-05-16T22:37:19Z

BERKELEY, Calif. — Robert Mondavi, the vintner who built his career and helped an iconic Northern California industry blossom by insisting that Napa Valley wines can compete with the best in the world, died in the valley Friday. He was 94.

Mondavi died peacefully at his home in Yountville, Robert Mondavi Winery spokeswoman Mia Malm said.

"It is hard to imagine anyone having more of a lasting impact on California's $20 billion-a-year wine industry than Robert Mondavi," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. Mondavi, said the governor, was "a tireless entrepreneur who transformed how the world felt about California wine, and an unforgettable personality to everyone who knew him."

Mondavi was 52 and a winemaking veteran in 1966, when he opened the winery that would help turn the Napa Valley into a world center of the industry. Clashes with a brother that included a fistfight led him to break from the family business to carry out his ambitious plans with borrowed money.

When Mondavi opened his winery, California was still primarily known for cheap jug wines. But he set out to change that, championing use of cold fermentation, stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels, all commonplace in the industry today. He introduced blind tastings in Napa Valley, putting his wines up against French vintages, a bold move.

His confidence was rewarded in 1976 when California wines beat some well-known French vintages in the famous tasting known as the Judgment of Paris.

"He had the single greatest influence in this country with respect to high quality wine and its place at the table," wine critic Robert Parker wrote in a chat room posting on his Web site Friday. He called Mondavi "an exceptional man....a true pioneer...a legendary pathfinder.....and I feel so priviledged to have known him...a sad day...but also one to pay homage to his enormous contributions."

Always convinced that California wines could compete with the European greats, Mondavi engaged in the first French-American wine venture when he formed a limited partnership with the legendary French vintner Baron Philippe de Rothschild to grow and make the ultra-premium Opus One at Oakville. The venture's first vintage was in 1979.

The success of the Mondavi winery allowed him to donate tens of millions of dollars to charity, but a wine glut and intense competition gradually cost his family control of the business. In 2004, the company accepted a buyout worth $1.3 billion from Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation Brands.

Mondavi was an enthusiastic ambassador for wine _ especially California wine _ and traveled the world into his 90s promoting the health, cultural and social benefits of its moderate consumption.

"He had an amazing life," said Robert C. Koch, president and CEO of the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. "He was a major driving force and an incredible promoter for California wine and the Napa Valley."

Born in Virginia, Minn., Mondavi got an economics degree from Stanford University in the 1930s and went to work at the Charles Krug Winery, which his Italian-born parents had bought after moving to California from Minnesota.

He married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Declusin, in 1937, and they had three children, Michael, Marcia and Tim.

For 20 years, the winery was a family business. But Robert clashed frequently with his younger brother, Peter, who had a more conservative approach the business. According to Robert Mondavi's autobiography "Harvests of Joy," matters came to a head with a November 1965 fistfight.

"When it was all over, there were no apologies and no handshake," wrote Robert Mondavi.

In the late 1970s, Mondavi's first marriage ended; in his autobiography he wrote that his single-minded pursuit of the wine business was partly to blame. In 1980, he married a second time, to Margrit Biever, a native of Switzerland who had worked at the Mondavi winery since the late '60s.

By the mid-1990s, Mondavi had turned over operation of the company to his sons. But like their father and uncle before them, Tim and Michael clashed over management styles.

More troubles emerged as a grape glut soured the wine market in 2002 and lower-priced wines in the Mondavi portfolio faced tough competition from cheaper Australian imports and domestic brands like California's Two Buck Chuck.

Also a problem were the millions in charitable donations Mondavi and Margrit had pledged, including helping found Copia, The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, in Napa and giving $35 million to the University of California, Davis.

In her 2007 book, "The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty," author Julia Flynn Siler wrote that declining stock prices later left Mondavi in danger of not being able to cover the millions in gifts he and Margrit had promised.

A corporate restructuring in August 2004 boosted the stock price, but undercut the family's control of the company. By time it was bought out, Michael Mondavi, who disagreed with the board strategy, had already left the company, and Tim Mondavi had loosened ties.

Later there was a bittersweet family moment when Robert and Peter Mondavi, aided by members of the younger generation, made wine together for the first time in 40 years. Using a 50-50 split of grapes from Robert Mondavi and Peter Mondavi family vineyards, the brothers made one barrel of a cabernet blend that sold for $401,000 at the 2005 Napa Valley wine auction.

The auction lot was called "Ancora Una Volta," or "Once Again."

Many Teens Saying No Thanks To Summer Jobs

2008-05-16T22:20:13Z

Employers are looking to hire teenagers this summer, but teens are just not interested.

"The biggest problem in recent years has not been the shrinking number of summer jobs for teens, but the shrinking number of teens who want traditional jobs," said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting, in a statement.

Despite an economic slowdown, American employers are expected to add between 1.5 million and 1.6 million 16-to-19-year olds to their payrolls according to a report by Challenger, just slightly lower than the 1.64 million jobs that were filled by teens during May, June and July last year.

GE confirms plans to exit appliance business

2008-05-16T22:11:24Z

NEW HAVEN, Conn. _ General Electric Co. plans to sell or spin off the business that for a century has put appliances in American homes, a decision that could presage further asset sales, analysts said.

The industrial conglomerate, one of the world's largest companies, said in a statement Friday that the move is part of an ongoing plan to exit "slower growth and more volatile businesses."

Last year, Fairfield-based GE shed its underperforming plastics business by selling it to a Saudi Arabian company for $11.6 billion.

"We think this is further recognition the company needs to exit the slow and no-growth businesses," said Robert Schenosky, an industrial analyst with Jefferies & Co. in New York who has favored asset sales. "It's a recognition that there is not anything that is untouchable at this point."

Schenosky said it's hard to predict what else GE might sell.

"Certainly other candidates could include the lighting business and even potentially NBC Universal," Schenosky said.

GE could be a dramatically different company in the coming years, Schenosky said. He also said the company needs to look at the type of acquisitions it makes, saying deals in health care and entertainment made the company larger but did not boost earnings power in a meaningful way.

Matt Collins, an analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis, said he would not be surprised to see GE sell its lighting and electrical distribution businesses.

"I think we'll continue to see them make strategic moves to get the stock working over the long term," Collins said. "This will probably be another noisy year for them."

GE shares fell 24 cents to $32.13 in trading Friday, near their 52-week low. Shares have traded between $31.50 and $42.15.

The stock had its worst day in decades last month after the company reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter profit and lowered its outlook for the full year.

Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has rejected calls to sell NBC, though he has been under pressure to restructure the industrial and financial conglomerate, particularly since last month's surprising first-quarter earnings report that profit fell 6 percent.

GE's 101-year-old appliance business, headquartered in Louisville, Ky., has been hurt by the housing slump and economic slowdown in the U.S. The appliance division had revenue of $7 billion last year and employs about 13,000 people worldwide.

"GE Appliances has a very strong brand ... and for more than 100 years has been one of the icons associated with GE in the United States," Immelt said. "However, its remains primarily a U.S. business, meaning its fortunes are tied to the rise and fall of a single market."

The company is planning a strategic review that could result in an outright sale of GE Appliances, a strategic partnership or a spin-off to shareholders.

"This review is consistent with the strategy we have been executing to transform our portfolio for long-term growth," Immelt said. "Since 2003 we have exited slower growth and more volatile businesses, generating $52 billion in gross proceeds from dispositions. These proceeds have been reinvested into a transformed portfolio of faster growth, higher margin businesses, stock buybacks and other restructuring activities."

Analysts estimate sales in the appliance business are likely to decline between 10 percent and 12 percent this year. That stems from weak consumer spending and a drop in home improvement sales and residential construction.

Some have suggested a sale price in the low- to mid-$6 billion range.

___

On the Web: http://www.ge.com

Yahoo seeks to conceal parts of shareholder suit

2008-05-16T22:05:58Z

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. is seeking to conceal large portions of a shareholder lawsuit alleging the Internet company's board improperly thwarted Microsoft Corp.'s $47.5 billion takeover offer, raising shareholder questions over the motives for the secrecy.

In a letter sent Friday to the judge overseeing the case in Delaware, a lawyer for the shareholders argued Yahoo is trying "to whitewash embarrassing documents" because the company thinks the information will damage the board's efforts to repel a challenge by activist investor Carl Icahn.

Angered by the board's handling of Microsoft bid, Icahn has nominated an alternate slate of candidates to oppose Yahoo's 10 current directors _ including Chief Executive Jerry Yang _ at the Sunnyvale-based company's July 3 annual meeting.

Yahoo is trying "to sanitize the public record and maintain a cloak of secrecy regarding unflattering evidence of breach of fiduciary duty," shareholder attorney Joel Friedlander wrote in a letter to Chancellor William B. Chandler III.

The redacted documents include information about an employee severance plan that Yahoo adopted shortly after Microsoft made its initial bid Jan. 31 and notes about a conversation between Yang and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Friedlander wrote.

Yahoo had no immediate comment Friday. Generally, companies often seek to keep parts of publicly available lawsuits under seal for competitive reasons.

A hearing on the request to unseal the disputed material has been scheduled at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Chandler's court, said Mark Lebovitch, another lawyer representing the shareholders. He declined further comment.

The concealed information was gathered during the discovery phase of the nearly three-month-old suit. If they're made public, the documents could become fodder in Icahn's campaign to remove Yahoo's board.

The information would be particularly damaging to the board if it suggest the directors deliberately took steps to make Yahoo more expensive for Microsoft.

Friedlander's letter says the redacted documents include estimates about how much Yahoo's employee severance plans would cost Microsoft in a takeover _ information that could be of particular interest to shareholders trying to figure out if the current board acted in their best interests.

Yahoo had previously disclosed the plans would give its 13,800 employees anywhere from four month to two years pay. Every $1.4 billion in severance cost theoretically would translate into about $1 per share less that Microsoft would have available to offer Yahoo shareholders.

Ballmer orally offered $33 per share, or $47.5 billion, but then withdrew the bid when Yang held out for $37 per share. Legg Mason money manager Bill Miller, whose fund is Yahoo's second largest shareholder, has publicly said he would have happily supported a Microsoft offer of $34 per share.

Friedlander's letter also indicated the redacted documents include comments that Yahoo's top executives made about the severance plans.

Bush fails to win Saudi help on gas prices

2008-05-16T21:50:28Z

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Bush failed to win the help he sought from Saudi Arabia to relieve skyrocketing American gas prices Friday, a setback for the former Texas oilman who took office predicting he would jawbone oil-producing nations to help the U.S.

Bush got a red-carpet welcome to this desert kingdom, home to the world's largest oil reserves, and promised to ask King Abdullah to increase production to reduce pressure on prices, which soared past $127 for the first time Friday. But Saudi officials said they already were meeting the needs of their customers worldwide and there was no need to pump more.

Their answer recalled Bush's trip to Saudi Arabia in January when he urged an increase in production but was rebuffed.

Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi said the kingdom decided on May 10 to increase production by 300,000 barrels a day to help meet U.S. needs after Venezuela and Mexico cut back deliveries.

"Supply and demand are in balance today," al-Naimi told a news conference, bristling at criticism from the U.S. Congress. "How much does Saudi Arabia need to do to satisfy people who are questioning our oil practices and policies?"

Early this week, Senate Democrats introduced a resolution to block $1.4 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agreed to increase its oil production by 1 million barrels per day.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the discussion with Bush about oil was friendly. "He didn't punch any tables or shout at anybody," the minister said. "I think he was satisfied."

That couldn't be said for at least one of the candidates hoping to succeed Bush in January. Said Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton: "I think it's very important that we do something more dramatic than going to have tea with the Saudis."

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said consumers would not see dramatic price reductions. Oil experts agreed.

Bernard Picchi, an energy analyst at Wall Street Access, an independent research firm, called the 300,000 barrel Saudi production increase "a token amount."

It would be different, he said, if Saudi Arabia boosted production by 1 million or 1.5 million barrels a day. The announced increase will have Saudi Arabia pumping 9.45 million barrels a day by June, Saudi officials said. That's about 2 million barrels below its capacity. Analysts also discounted the impact of the U.S. Energy Department's announcement that it would cancel shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for six months beginning July 1.

"It's ridiculous because I don't think this is going to bring the price down," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Alaron Trading Corp., of the Energy Department's move.

Midway through a five-day Mideast trip that began in Israel and ends in Egypt, Bush spent the day with Abdullah at his weekend retreat outside the capital. It is known as a horse farm since the king maintains 150 Arabian stallions there. The farm also produces thousands of goats and sheep, bred for the king's royal banquets.

The sagging U.S. economy and painful gasoline prices are the top concerns of Americans in the heart of a heated presidential campaign. The run-up in oil prices has been alarming.

Futures prices of crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange have more than doubled in the past year, from $62.46 a barrel in the first week of May, 2007. Prices reached $100 a barrel for the first time in February and continued rising. They closed at $126.29 Friday.

On Jan. 26, 2000, during a presidential debate, Bush opposed taking oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and instead said then-President Clinton should "jawbone" oil producing nations. That week crude oil prices were $28 a barrel.

Hadley said the Saudis briefed Bush on plans to increase their production capacity. They also argued that even an increase would be unlikely to bring down the soaring prices, which they said were driven more by uncertainty in the market, lack of refining capacity for the type of oil readily available and other complicated dynamics.

Economists say prices are being driven up by increased demand, not slow production. China and India are stretching supplies as they use ever increasing amounts of energy.

Hadley suggested the White House was satisfied with _ or at least accepted _ the Saudi response. However, he said the Bush administration will see if the explanation "conforms to what our experts say."

Hadley said Bush and the king also focused on Iran and concern about recent violence in Lebanon, where Hezbollah overran Beirut neighborhoods last week in protest of measures by the U.S.-backed government. The display of military power by the Shiite militant group, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization, resulted in the worst internal fighting since the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia _ eager to stop any advance of regional power by Shiite-dominated Iran _ joins the West in supporting Lebanon's government. Hadley said Bush and Abdullah shared a concern that the recent events would "embolden Iran." The U.S. and Saudi Arabia, he said, "are of one mind in condemning what Hezbollah did."

On Thursday, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government reached a deal to end the violence after Lebanon's Cabinet reversed measures aimed at the militants.

Bush's visit was billed as a celebration of 75 years of U.S.-Saudi relations, though they have been frayed by Arab perceptions that Washington favors Israel too much in the dispute with the Palestinians, the Iraq war and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The two countries used the occasion of Bush's visit to sign new agreements.

Among them was an agreement for the U.S. to assist the kingdom in developing civilian nuclear power. Another involves U.S. promises to help protect any Saudi nuclear infrastructure with training, the exchange of experts "and other support services as needed." Hadley said it would not involve U.S. troops.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, at the news conference with the oil minister, said he shared Bush's hope for a Mideast peace agreement by next January but sharply criticized Israel for the "humanistic suffering weighed upon the West Bank and Gaza Strip population" of Palestinians. He said Israel's "continued policy of expanding settlements on Palestinian territories" undermines the peace process.

Robert Weissman: Pharmaceutical Payola -- Drug Marketing to Doctors

2008-05-16T20:50:18Z

Last week, a Congressional committee properly raked Big Pharma over the coals for misleading advertising of pharmaceuticals.

A hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight subcommittee focused on advertising campaigns for three drugs, including the remarkable case of Robert Jarvik. Jarvik is featured in endlessly re-run ads for Pfizer's blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor. Known as the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, he is not a cardiologist, not a licensed medical doctor and not authorized to prescribe pharmaceuticals. He's shown in the ads engaged in vigorous rowing activity, but in fact he doesn't row. Pfizer pulled the ads in February after controversy started brewing.

Among industrialized countries, only the United States and New Zealand permit drug companies to market directly to consumers. It's a bad idea, it drives bad medicine, and it should be banned.

But although it has the highest profile, direct-to-consumer advertising is a small part of Pharma's marketing machine.

Researchers Marc-AndrÃ© Gagnon and Joel Lexchin conclude in a recent issue of the journal PLOS Medicine that direct-to-consumer ads make up less than a tenth of industry marketing expenditures ($4 billion of $57.5 billion in 2004). And Gagnon and Lexchin's estimate of $57.5 billion on marketing excludes many industry expenditures that are really driven by marketing, including clinical trials conducted for marketing purposes.

The bulk of the industry marketing effort -- more than 70 percent by Gagnon and Lexchin's calculation -- is directed at doctors.

Why?

Because it works.

The companies spend huge amounts paying firms that carefully track what doctors prescribe, and then they use the information to tailor messages to doctors, distribute samples and develop continuing medical education programs.

Gagnon and Lexchin report that Pharma spends more than $20 billion a year on "detailers" -- the pharma reps that knock on doctor doors, ply the staff with free coffee and lunches, distribute samples ($16 billion worth), and prod docs to prescribe their drugs.

This is complemented by a host of tactics that in other circumstances might be called bribes.

"Virtually all physicians in America take cash or gifts from the drug companies," says Melody Petersen, author of Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs, and a former New York Times reporter. "A recent survey said 94 percent of physicians took something of value from the drug companies. Some doctors take hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from these companies, and there's no law that says they can't."

Petersen says she "had no idea this was so extensive until one day I was writing a story about Celebrex and Vioxx -- this was before Vioxx was taken off the market. The story was about the marketing battle between these two pain drugs. I called one of the large societies of rheumatologists and asked for an expert on arthritis. I specifically said I needed an expert who was not being paid as a consultant to one of the manufacturers of these drugs. A staff person said, 'We have lots of people you can talk to, but all of these doctors are consultants to one or both of the drug companies.'"

Drug companies hire doctors to give lectures, and they hire other doctors as "consultants" to go to fancy dinners and listen to the lectures. "There are more than 500,000 of these dinners or events in America every year," Petersen says.

The drug companies weave these diverse strategems into an elaborate tapestry -- not infrequently to push drugs for inappropriate purposes. One eye-opening case that Petersen details in Our Daily Meds concerns Neurontin, a mediocre drug for epilepsy that Warner-Lambert illegally peddled as an unapproved treatment for bipolar disorder, migraines, attention deficit disorder in children and other conditions. The drug does not work for most of these conditions. Many persons were injured by taking excessive doses of Neurontin, and many others wasted money and emotional energy on hopeless Neurontin treatment strategies. Warner-Lambert ultimately paid $430 million to settle criminal and civil charges related to Neurontin marketing, but Petersen says that, even so, the illegal marketing scheme was clearly profitable for Warner-Lambert (and Pfizer, which acquired Warner-Lambert in 2000).

Petersen's account of the Neurontin nightmare draws heavily on a whistleblower, David Franklin. She summarizes the central theme of the story Franklin revealed: "The company got doctors to prescribe the drug for all these experimental uses by paying them. They paid physicians to give speeches to other physicians at restaurants or hotels or resorts. The doctors not only enjoyed a nice meal or a weekend vacation, they often also received a $500 check for attending. The physicians giving lectures at these parties were often trained by the drug company's ad firm to describe how Neurontin could work for conditions like bipolar. ... The company tracked the doctors' prescriptions before and after these dinners or weekend retreats. The executives saw how well it worked."

Which raises an interesting question: How is that the industry can so effectively manipulate highly trained doctors?

Answers Adriane Fugh-Berman, a doctor and Georgetown University professor who runs PharmedOut, a project that focuses on how pharmaceutical companies influence prescribing decisions and encourages physicians to educate themselves from non-industry sources: "Physicians are trained in medicine, not psychological manipulation. Every bit of flattery, friendship and information offered by reps is aimed at selling drugs."

There is no simple solution to these problems, though ending patent-based marketing monopolies would transform pharmaceutical marketing practices and likely eliminate most abuses.

In the meantime, a ban on Pharma gifts to doctors would be a modest step forward. In the United States, notes Petersen, "radio disc jockeys can't take cash from music companies. But when it comes to something like medicines -- which mean life or death for people -- doctors can take as much money as they want from the drug companies. We need a law to stop that."

Note: I serve as managing director for Commercial Alert, which advocates for elimination of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising.

Jack Myers: 2008 Annual Network TV Upfront Economic Forecast

2008-05-16T18:44:21Z

In past years, JackMyers Media Business Report has issued specific projections for Upfront spending. Both my forecasts and my post-Upfront analyses have provided insights on market conditions and network-by-network revenue, cost-per-thousand and sell-out performance. My own performance has generally been on-the-money, although last year I believed the market would be considerably softer than it, in fact, turned out to be. (At least this was according to published reports, although annual corporate revenue reports were more in line with my original expectations.).

This year, I am not offering predictions nor will I report after-the-fact on network Upfront revenues. The Upfront is no longer a representative indicator of network performance and the information released by the networks is, at best, questionable. If a network ever actually reports poor performance in the Upfront, then we can be assured it was a disaster.

Most industry leaders appear convinced the Upfront will closely follow last-year's pattern without the delays caused by the conversion to C-3 (live plus 3-day delayed commercial viewing) ratings. This suggests a reasonably quick process that should be completed ahead of the July 4 holiday. The earlier Memorial Day weekend will also contribute to a speedier Upfront process. While agency executives are less than eager to accept another round of CPM increases, the fact is demand should be strong and networks are increasing value through multiple marketing and cross-platform initiatives. While broadcast networks' CPM increases will not fully compensate them for erosion suffered during and after the writers' strike, they should have healthy gains as well as incremental revenues from alternative distribution models.

Because the higher-demand networks can re-allocate their inventory, reducing the share of lower paying categories and increasing the share of revenues from higher paying advertisers, overall per-network CPMs can increase while individual advertisers and agencies can hold the line with minimal real CPM increases. Automotive and pharmaceutical, which are negatively impacted by current market conditions, are traditionally lower-CPM advertisers, and declines in overall category spending will be replaced by higher paying categories. "Advertisers who are constantly looking for efficiencies are the ones who fall out of the medium for cost reasons," explained a senior industry executive. "Through attrition, networks are losing the lower cost advertisers and increasing sales to higher value advertisers. The base of TV advertisers is still growing, so the medium is healthy."

It appears that once again the stronger networks will get stronger and the weaker networks will also do just fine. But media companies that are slow to invest in value-based media and marketing extensions will find themselves forced into a media commodity pool designed to drive costs toward free.

Inevitably, the next generation of Upfront buying and selling relationships will incorporate network review of advertisers' creative strategies and an analysis of which advertising messages are most complementary to each network's program content, and which are most effective in holding audiences through commercial breaks.

For additional Upfront Week coverage: Upfront 2008: Insights and Updates

This post originally appeared at JackMyers.com.

$4 Gas Literally Impossible At Some Gas Pumps

2008-05-16T16:28:03Z

Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she'll go out of business if fuel prices rise above $4 a gallon. Not because she won't be able to buy gas at that price, but because she won't be able to sell it.

The old mechanical gas pumps with scrolling dials at her country store in Fauquier County lack the gears to go beyond $3.99 a gallon. State inspectors shut down her diesel pump several months ago when the fuel topped the $4 mark, so now all that's left are two pumps dispensing 87-octane gasoline, set at $3.75 -- and climbing.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't have $30,000 to invest in new pumps, and I'm barely skipping by," said Osborne, who owns the Orlean Market and Restaurant, a store dating from 1892 with horse-country views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and miles of rolling Virginia Piedmont.