Worst Medical Opinion Money can buy? (ExxonMobil etc.)


Hi all, Looks like we are already being geared up for denial of Gulf War Syndrome 2. Please see below the programme, for a conference due to take place in the UK in May. Looks like bad news for anyone suffering from Gulf War Related Illnesses (one of the articles they recommend argues against research into GWS) and other environmentally related and drug induced illnesses. There are sections on the Contraceptive Pill, Chemcials and daily life, Gulf War Syndrome and more. One of the organisers (Tech Central Station) are sponsered by ExxonMobil, AT&T, Microsoft, and General Motors Corporation, though they say 'the opinions expressed on these pages are solely those of the writers and not necessarily of any corporation or other organization'. This is what they say about their involvement with these companies: 'Tech Central Station is supported by sponsoring corporations that share our faith in technology and its ability to improve modern life. Smart application of technology - combined with pro free market, science-based public policy - has the ability to help us solve many of the world's problems, and so we are grateful to ExxonMobil, AT&T, Microsoft, and General Motors Corporation for their support. All of these corporations are industry leaders that have made great strides in using technology for our betterment, and we are proud to have them as sponsors. ' Ah, it just brings a tear to ones eye... Orla http://www.spiked-online.com/panicattack/default.stm (this site gives links for the articles they recommend) A conference organised by "spiked" and the Royal Institution, in association with Tech Central Station Europe Friday 9 May 2003, London Why are we so obsessed with risk? From global warming to mobile phones, from crime to child safety, from the business world to the military, precaution and pre-emption have become the buzzwords of our time. We sometimes seem to be organising society around the grandmotherly maxim of 'better safe than sorry'. What are the consequences of this overbearing concern with risks? 'Panic attack' will bring together an international audience to assess the spread of risk aversion into ever-more spheres of life. With discussions on everything from children and obesity to the risks of war to business after Enron, the conference will interrogate our obsession with risk - and put the case for a more rational approach to scientific and political issues, and matters of everyday life. Panic attack 10.00 - 11.00 Why is society so obsessed with risk? Mick Hume, editor of spiked, Jim Glassman of Tech Central Station, and Gail Cardew of the Royal Institution outline the themes of the day. chair: Helene Guldberg - managing editor, spiked strand 1a Killing the Pill 11.30 - 12.45 Since its inception, the contraceptive Pill has been dogged by controversy. Fears about its safety are continually being raised. Could irrational debates about the risks of the Pill hold back the future development of contraception? Speakers: Carl Djerassi - father of the modern contraceptive Pill in conversation with Ann Furedi - formerly of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service Suggested reading: A lady's man, interview with Carl Djerassi, Salon In praise of the Pill, by Jennie Bristow strand 1b Chemical reaction 11.30 - 12.45 Chemicals are everywhere: in the dye in our clothes, the laminating on our CDs, the preservatives in our food. Should we be concerned about living 'toxic lives'? Speakers include: Bill Durodie - author of Poisonous Dummies John Maule - director of the Centre for Decision Research at Leeds University Professor Jim Bridges - chair of the European Commission's toxicity committee Todd Seavey - editor, HealthFactsAndFears.com chair: Josie Appleton - spiked Suggested reading: Gender-bending chemicals: facts and fiction, by Bill Durodie To fear and to fund, by Waldemar Ingdahl Tech Central Station Europe session sponsor: Luther Pendragon strand 1c Children and obesity 11.30 - 12.45 Is childhood obesity on the rise - or are we over- obsessing about our children's eating habits? Speakers include: Jeya Henry - professor of human nutrition at Oxford Brookes University Dr Peter Marsh - director of the Social Issues Research Centre Ken Fox - Department of Exercise, Health and Science at Bristol University chair: Dr Michael Fitzpatrick - author of The Tyranny of Health Suggested reading: Young people in 2000 - food for thought, Social Issues Research Centre Food science, by Tom Sanders Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?, Social Issues Research Centre session sponsor: Social Issues Research Centre plenary 2 Scares of our time 13.45 - 14.45 From AIDS in the 1980s to bioterrorism today, this plenary traces the history of moral panics. Speaker: Dr Michael Fitzpatrick - author of The Tyranny of Health chair: Jennie Bristow - commissioning editor, spiked Suggested reading: AIDS in Britain: why complacency is justified, by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick MMR: the making of junk science, by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick The price of precaution, by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick strand 2a War fevers 14.45 - 16.00 Have modern military machines lost the fighting spirit? From Gulf War Syndrome to Intifada Syndrome, every contemporary conflict seems to be followed by its own sickness. Soldiers sue armies for making them do life-threatening things, while armies themselves sometimes seem fearful of getting stuck in on the ground. Speakers: Brendan O'Neill - assistant editor, spiked Simon Wessely - professor of psychological medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, London chair: Jon Holbrook - barrister Suggested reading: The dangers of a risk-averse war, by Mick Hume These boots were made for talking about, by Brendan O'Neill Veterans' burning questions, by Howard Fienberg, Tech Central Station strand 2b The heated debate 14.45 - 16.00 Discussions about global warming tend to be polarised around what is causing it and how we can stop it. But couldn't we learn to live, and potentially flourish, in a hotter climate? Speakers include: Bjorn Lomborg - author, The Skeptical Environmentalist Sallie Baliunas- enviro-sci host at Tech Central Station chair: Helene Guldberg - managing editor, spiked Suggested reading: The Lomborg Inquisition, by Helene Guldberg Should we implement the Kyoto Protocol?, by Bjorn Lomborg Global warming facts, consensus melt away, by Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas, Tech Central Station Europe strand 2c Smoke without fire 14.45 - 16.00 Smoking causes cancer - so why, some experts ask, does the EU continue to ban a safer alternative, smokeless tobacco? At a time when health warnings on cigarette packs are getting bigger and bigger, and when smoking is increasingly frowned upon in polite society, does it make sense to keep alternatives like Snus off the shop shelves? Speakers include: Robert Nilsson - Stockholm University Michael Kunze - head of the Institute for Social Medicine, University of Vienna Todd Seavey - American Council on Science and Health chair: Roger Bate - International Policy Network fellow and TCS columnist Suggested reading: A less harmful way?, by Waldemar Ingdahl, Tech Central Station Europe Lightening up, by Roger Bate, Tech Central Station Europe Smoke Free Europe, by Helene Guldberg, Tech Central Station Europe plenary 3 The future of risk 16.30 - 17.45 Speakers from the worlds of science, sociology and government examine the impact of risk aversion on society and our lives. Speakers: Professor Sir Colin Berry - eminent British scientist Frank Furedi - author, The Culture of Fear Geoff Mulgan - head of the UK government's Performance and Innovation Unit. chair: Derek Wanless - Trustee of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts Suggested reading: Epidemic of fear, by Frank Furedi Risk, science and society, by Professor Sir Colin Berry Risk and uncertainty, UK Prime Minister's Strategy Unit _________________________________________________ On one of the organisers http://www.techcentralstation.be/2051/indexwrapper.jsp?PID=2051-6 Welcome to Tech Central Station (co-sponsors of "Panic Attack"). The explosion of dazzling technological advances over the last several years has brought with it a host of thorny political and public policy questions, and the collision of technology and public policy has enormous implications for our lives and our future. Tech Central Station is here to help provide the right answers to many of those questions with the news, analysis, research, and commentary you need to understand how technology is changing and shaping our world, and how you can make sense of it all. The opportunities free markets and technology present are nearly limitless. But with those opportunities come questions for a variety of issues: telecommunications, the hi-tech military, biotech and pharmaceutical development, sound environmental and biological science, energy development, government regulation, and trade, to name a few. Tech Central Station will be ahead of the curve in anticipating what comes next and guiding you through this technological era. Tech Central Station is supported by sponsoring corporations that share our faith in technology and its ability to improve modern life. Smart application of technology - combined with pro free market, science-based public policy - has the ability to help us solve many of the world's problems, and so we are grateful to ExxonMobil, AT&T, Microsoft, and General Motors Corporation for their support. All of these corporations are industry leaders that have made great strides in using technology for our betterment, and we are proud to have them as sponsors. However, the opinions expressed on these pages are solely those of the writers and not necessarily of any corporation or other organization. Tech Central Station is published by Tech Central Station, L.L.C. __________________________________________

Created By: Orla Ni Chomhrai