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Ninety-three new coal plants are being planned for construction throughout the US. Demand for coal will increase as these new facil- ities are completed. Oil is starting to run out and there are no con- crete plans for a transition to renewable resources such as wind and solar energy. Coal companies therefore will be well-positioned to capitalise on their growing market. Katuah Earth First! is one of sev- eral groups resisting MTR. (Source: EarthFirst!, November-December 2004, http://www. earthfirstjournal.org) Ninety-three new coal plants are being planned for construction Perhaps it is because Ely Lilly has several ties to the Bush family, throughout the US. Demand for coal will increase as these new facil- _e.g., George Bush, Sr was once a member of the board of directors. ities are completed. Oil is starting to run out and there are no con- Of Ely Lilly's $1.6 million political contributions in 2000, 82 per cent crete plans for a transition to renewable resources such as wind and went to Republicans and George W. Bush. In June 2002, George W. solar energy. Coal companies therefore will be well-positioned to Bush appointed Ely Lilly CEO Sidney Taurel to a seat on the capitalise on their growing market. Katuah Earth First! is one of sev- Homeland Security Advisory Council. eral groups resisting MTR. In November 2004, Congress appropriated $20 million to imple- (Source: EarthFirst!, November-December 2004, http://www. ment the findings of the New Freedom Commission on Mental earthfirstjournal.org) Health. Mandatory screening by schools for mental health illnesses would be included in the program. Congressman Ron Paul, 11. Mental Screening Program Usurps Parental Rights R-Texas, introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill which [: April 2002, President Bush appointed a 22-member commis- would withhold funding for mandatory mental health screenings and sion—the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental require parental consent and notification. His amendment, however, Health—to "identify policies that could be implemented by was voted down by a wide margin (95 to 315 in the House of Federal, State and local governments to maximize the utility of Representatives). existing resources, improve coordination of treatments and ser- Paul, a doctor and long-time member of the American Association vices, and promote successful community of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), warns integration for adults with a serious mental that mental health screening could be used to illness and children with a serious emotional label children whose attitudes, religious beliefs disturbance". Members of this commission and political views conflict with established included physicians in the mental health field doctrine. He further warns that an obvious and at least one former employee (Robert N. major beneficiary of this legislation is the phar- Postlethwait) of pharmaceutical giant Ely i maceutical industry. The AAPS has decried Lilly and Co. There are growing this legislation, saying it will lead to mandatory In July 2003, the commissioners published concerns that mental psychological testing of every child in America the results of their study. They found that men- i without parental consent and "heap even more tal health disorders often go undiagnosed, and health screening coercive pressure on parents to medicate chil- recommended to the president that there should could be used to label dren, with potentially dangerous side effects". b x hensive screening f tal A Sources: Asheville Global Report, no. 284, illnesses for people ofall ages, including pre children whose June 24-30, 2004, hip: rw agmews. of school-age children. In accordance with attitudes, religious Truth News, September 13, 2004) their findings, the c ission s sted A wae that schools were in a "key position” to beliefs and political 12. US Military in Iraq Contracts screen the 52 million students and six mil- views conflict with Human Rights Violators lion adult employees of the nation's . . lhe US Government is contractin, schools. prey established doctrine. private firms to recruit, hire and The commissioners also recommended train civilians to perform duties linking the screenings with treatment and normally done by military personnel. support and using the Texas Medication These corporate employees are sent to Algorithm Project (TMAP) as a model fill empty positions as prison guards, treatment system. TMAP, which was military police and interrogators at US implemented in Texas's publicly funded military bases worldwide, including mental health care system while George Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. W. Bush was governor of Texas, is a Independent of the United States mili- disease management program that aids physicians in prescribing tary, these employees are not held accountable by military law. drugs to patients based on clinical history, background, symptoms Many of the recruits are citizens with prior experience as policemen and previous results. It was the first program in the United States or soldiers. aimed at establishing medication guidelines for treating mental health However, a number of the employees have backgrounds as merce- illnesses. naries and soldiers who fought for repressive regimes throughout the Critics of mental health screening and TMAP claim that these area ——_ world, such as in South Africa, Chile and Yugoslavia. Employees payoff to pharmcos. Many cite Allen Jones, a former employee of from some of these firms have recently been indicated in prisoner the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector-General. He was fired when _ abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. he revealed that many key officials who have influence over the med- The Pentagon claims that it can no longer fight the war on terror ication plan in his state received monetary perks and benefits from without enlisting the help of private contractors. The reason for this pharmaceutical companies, which benefited from their drugs being in _ inability is that the number of active troops in the United States mili- the medication algorithm. tary has dropped from 2.1 million to 1.4 million since the end of the TMAP also promotes the use of newer, more expensive Cold War. This puts a lot of pressure on companies to fill positions antipsychotic drugs. Results of studies conducted in the United as quickly as possible. One negative consequence of this rushed hir- States and Great Britain found that using the older, more established _ ing is the lack of in-depth background checks on applicants. Many antipsychotic drugs as a front-line treatment rather than the newer recruits have been implicated in past human rights violations, includ- experimental drugs makes more sense. Under TMAP, the Ely Lilly ing torture and killing. drug olanzapine, a new atypical antipsychotic drug, is used as a first- (Sources: Law.com, May 11, 2004; Mother Jones, Nov/December line treatment rather than a more typical antipsychotic medication. 2004; Corporate Watch, March 7, 2005, http://www.corpwatch.org) There are growing concerns that mental health screening could be used to label attitudes, religious beliefs and political views conflict with NEXUS + 17 children whose established doctrine. DECEMBER 2005 — JANUARY 2006 www.nexusmagazine.com