Koran burnings put the heat on ISAF

Deutsche Welle, 26 February 2012

While the burning of the Koran set off the protests raging in Afghanistan that have claimed over 30 lives, destroying the holy book is no longer the main reason tensions are running high, one expert says.

One protester was killed on Sunday and seven US soldiers were wounded during a grenade attack in the sixth day of protests since some Korans were burnt outside as US airbase in Afghanistan. US President Barack Obama and other leading US diplomats and military officials have apologized for the burnings, which they said were accidental, but it has done little to suppress Afghans' anger.

However, Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said the protests being witnessed Sunday were no longer directly connected to the Koran burnings but an expression of Afghans' anger at the way they are treated by the international community.

The burnt Qurans are not longer
driving protests, one expert said.

"What angers Afghans much more is that Special Forces kill people in their night raids who are rebels," he said. "That's been happening more and more lately."

Wide-ranging rethink needed

The West's strategy in Afghanistan needs a wide-ranging rethink, Ruttig said.

"Over the short term all we can hope for is that the Afghan officials can have a calming effect," he said adding that Afghan President Hamid Karzai as well as some mullahs have called for peace.

Karzai's concern about the on-going protests is evident in the many written statements his office has issued on the topic as well as his appearance Sunday in a radio interview in which he said now was "the time to return to calm." Though his comments did not seem to influence protesters, Karzai also said the US troops responsible for the burning the Muslim holy book should be held accountable for their acts. 

Karzai appealed to Afghans for calm

NATO, Britain, Germany and France recalled their advisers from Afghan ministries in Kabul after two US officers were found dead in their office. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the act, saying it was revenge for the burnings. Not being directly involved in the burnings is unlikely to protect other foreign troops, Ruttig said.

"There is no longer much willingness on the part of the Afghan population to differentiate," he said.

An unpredictable situation

In northern Afghanistan, where the German Bundeswehr is stationed, General Erich Pfeffer said the situation was "not predictable" Germany has withdrawn troops from one of its bases, Camp Talokan, ahead of schedule. At least three protesters died on Saturday outside a German camp near Kunduz. 

The Bundeswehr pulled out of one
base early after protests

Ruttig warned against pulling troops out of the country.

"You cannot run away," he said. "Especially not when the international community has made so many promises to help restore stability and committed so many soldiers."

Instead, he recommended additional training for troops and civilians sent to Afghanistan, "We have to develop a much better sensitivity for the country."

Author: Andreas Noll / sms

Editor: Chuck Penfold

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"Healing the Military Energies in our family Tree" – Jun 13, 2011 (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

“ … There’s much violence and anger throughout the world; when we look at the Middle East, we can see that changes are coming there. The West has a lot of power over the Middle East, but that power will begin to dissolve. The Muslim people of this world will begin to have their own power, and their own prosperity, and they will begin to disconnect from the Western World. This disconnection doesn’t have to be violent as violence only happens when somebody hangs onto what doesn’t belong to them....

... What Military Energy means if we use an analogy: it would be like putting grinding paste into the oil of your motor car. Once you release these energies you will begin to feel lighter as you disconnect from this reality, and, you will find it easier and easier to release any other negative emotions. Military Energies are the core of all your problems...."


Iraqis condemn U.S. Haditha sentence as insult

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roadside bomb  exploded near the Iranian embassy in central
Baghdad (AFP Photo / Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

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Shock news: Murdoch paper pledges 'decency'

smh.com.au, February 26, 2012

Rupert Murdoch with the first edition of The Sun in 1969 and with the
first edition of The Sun on Sunday last night. Photo: Reuters

The first Sunday edition of The Sun has hit news stands across Britain with a pledge of "trust" and "decency" following the damaging phone hacking scandal.

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch personally supervised the final stages of production of the new title which promised readers it would remain "fearless, outspoken, mischievous and fun".

The Sun on Sunday claimed it would hold all journalists to account and said it had appointed a readers' champion to deal with errors and feedback from the public.

In an editorial, the newspaper also commented on the arrests of 10 current and former employees over alleged corrupt payments to public officials, saying they were "innocent until proven guilty".

It said that the closure of its sister paper the News of the World, which ceased publication last July at the height of the hacking scandal, was a "sobering experience".

In an editorial, titled: A new Sun rises today, it said: "As we launch the seven day Sun, we want to strengthen that connection (with the readers) with a new independent Sun Readers' Champion to accept feedback and correct significant errors.

"Our journalists must abide by the Press Complaints Commission's editors code, the industry standard for ethical behaviour, and the News Corporation standards of business conduct.

"We will hold our journalists to the standards we expect of them. After all a newspaper which holds the powerful to account must do the same with itself.

"You will be able to trust our journalists to abide by the values of decency as they gather news."

It said the Sun has been a "tremendous force for good", adding: "It is worth reminding our readers, and detractors, of that as we publish our historic first Sunday edition during what is a challenging period.

"News International closed our sister paper the News of the World over the phone hacking scandal.

"Since then some of our own journalists have been arrested, though not charged, over allegations of payments to public officials for stories. We believe those individuals are innocent until proven guilty.

"It has been a sobering experience for our entire industry."

The front page of the new title features an exclusive interview with Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, the first after the birth of her daughter, which left her in a critical condition in hospital.

The story is headlined: My Heart Stopped For 40 Seconds, and is accompanied by a picture of Holden cradling her daughter Hollie.

Holden, 40, a mother of two, was in a critical condition for three days after giving birth to Hollie in January.

She told the newspaper she was "moments from death" and describes her ordeal in an interview spread over five pages.

The newspaper, which contains 92 pages and a 28-page football pull-out, also features a topless photo of singer Kelly Rowland on Page 3, but the X Factor judge is covering her modesty.

Murdoch, 80, travelled to the paper's printers in Hertfordshire, on Saturday night to witness the new Sunday tabloid roll off the press for the first time.

He had earlier thanked staff at The Sun, tweeting: "New Sunday edition nearly ready. Fantastic achievement by great staff. Many thanks."

It is understood that three million copies of the paper were printed overnight and Murdoch said he would be "very happy" if his new paper exceed two million copies and enjoyed success similar to the NotW.

Bosses at News International have recruited a clutch of celebrity columnists including Katie Price and Nancy Dell'Olio for its latest title, while the Archbishop of York and chef Heston Blumenthal will also have weekly slots.

News International announced the birth of a Sunday edition of the biggest selling UK daily newspaper on Monday and it quickly sold out of advertising space.

PA

Chinese 'netizens' inundate Obama's Google+ page

BBC News, 25 February 2012

Changing China 

• Middle-class farming
• Microblogs vs communism
• Guide to how China is ruled
• The Party's enduring popularity

Despite China's Great Firewall, internet
 users have been able to reach Barack
Obama's Google+ page

President Obama's page on Google's social network site has been inundated with messages in Chinese after restrictions in China were removed.

Every current topic on Mr Obama's Google+ page attracted hundreds of Chinese comments.

Some contributors made jokes; others said they were occupying the site in the style of western Occupy campaigns.

Google+ is normally blocked in China along with other social media that the authorities deem unacceptable.

Since Google+ was launched in 2011, software known informally as the Great Firewall had appeared to block it within China.

But on 20 February 2012 internet-users in many parts of China found they could gain access to the site - prompting some to suggest occupying it, in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Occupy Wall Street campaign.

On 24 and 25 February, to the consternation of American readers, every current topic on President Obama's 2012 election campaign page attracted hundreds of comments, apparently from China.

Their exact provenance cannot be verified, but the expressions contributors used were in the style of mainland China and in simplified Chinese.

A few appealed for the liberty of the civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who is under house arrest.

Others asked about a recent political intrigue in south-west China, in which one of the country's top policemen, Wang Lijun, spent a day in the US consulate in Chengdu for undisclosed reasons.

But many simply voiced delight at their freedom to speak: they talked about occupying the furniture and bringing snacks and soft drinks.

The White House in Washington has not commented on the upsurge of Chinese interest in President Obama's campaign site.

But it has prompted one poster to suggest that if China ever abandoned its internet restrictions, the United States would have to protect its social media with a Great Firewall of its own.

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MP questions Santorum's forced euthanasia claims

RNW, 24 February 2012

(Photo: YouTube/rightwingwatch.org)

Dutch Labour MP Frans Timmermans has asked questions in parliament about a comment made by Rick Santorum who is in the race to become the Republican presidential candidate. During a meeting at a religious college, he claimed that forced euthanasia accounts for 5 percent of all deaths in the Netherlands.

The film was made by rightwingwatch.org from a position in the audience.

Mr Timmermans wants to know why the Dutch embassy has not challenged the US politician over the comment. The embassy says it does not want to interfere with the US elections.

"According to the New York Times the ambassador gave “no comment” on Santorum’s scandalous accusations aimed at our country. How is that possible?", Mr Timmermans wrote on Facebook. "It’s not right."

Rick Santorum is a conservative Catholic running to become the Republican presidential candidate. He is doing well in the opinion polls. During the meeting, he said that 10 percent of deaths in the Netherlands were caused by euthanasia. "Half of those people are euthanised involuntarily.” He goes on to say that the elderly seek treatment abroad to avoid Dutch hospitals so that they come out alive. He also claimed that elderly patients wear bracelets with the text “Don’t euthanize me”. The audience can be heard gasping.

The figures cited by the US politician are incorrect. Only two percent of deaths in the Netherlands are attributed to euthanasia. Dutch law is very strict about euthanasia only being carried out at the request of the patient him or herself. The patient has to be suffering unbearably from an incurable condition. The patient's request must also be assessed by two doctors.

The issue has been raised in many small reports in US papers, but is hardly mentioned in the Dutch press.

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German supreme court strengthens data protection

Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2012

Germany’s highest court has ruled against the law allowing the storage and sharing of telecommunication data by security services. Now the provisions need to be curbed.

Germany's constitutional court has ruled the current law allowing security services to store and share telecommunications data to be too far-reaching and therefore unconstitutional.

The current legislation allows prosecutors to access passwords and PIN numbers of prospective offenders. The judges found that to be in violation of the basic law on self-determination as stated in the German constitution.

There it says that citizens have the right to maintain control over personal information.

The judges on Friday found that it was unconstitutional to allow investigators to gather sensitive information without clearer restrictions on how to use them.

Information on individuals' telephone, internet or bank details can be obtained from telecommunications companies only for criminial prosecution. But investigators have been found to have gathered and stored sensitive information extensively in the name of preventing criminal activity. But now the constitutional court has found this to have been excessive.

In 1983 the supreme court in Karlsruhe passed its first verdict on data protection and ruled as unconstitutional the procedure where town registry offices passed on information to be used in the general census of that year. Back then the judges had clarified that every citizen has the right to know what personal information is recorded where.

The latest ruling this Friday means that the law governing the storage and use by public administration offices has to be ammended by June 2013.

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WikiLeaks informant Bradley Manning in court

RNW, 23 February 2012, by Willemien Groot

(Photo: ANP)

                

To one person a hero, to another a lunatic endangering the state: the American soldier Bradley Manning. This week he stands before the military court at Fort George G Meade in Maryland for accusations of passing on hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks during his stay in Iraq .

Mr Manning was arrested in May 2010, after the hacker he had taken into his confidence handed him over to the authorities. The 24-year-old American soldier who served as an intelligence specialist is accused of, among other things, endangering state security. His most sensational revelation was the so-called Collateral Murder video which shows how a US military helicopter over Baghdad shot at a group of civilians. Among the eleven victims were two journalists from Reuters.

Mr Manning is also accused of passing on 260,000 diplomatic posts or cables to WikiLeaks.

It is generally assumed that the prosecutor will demand life in prison. The leak is the largest in American military history.

Military judgment

Mr Manning is appearing before a military court. Ultimately, the jury must come to a decision. But how unprejudiced can a military jury be in its verdict of a former colleague, asks Terry Gill, professor of military law in Amsterdam.

"They will of course receive instructions. They should base their judgments on sound evidence in all parts of the indictment. If something is lacking, a verdict of innocent is, in principle, possible. But it's true that the fact that he is being tried by the military, the reputation he has within the service as a soldier and the impression he makes will have a significant impact on the outcome. "

According to Mr Gill, a lot hangs on how Mr Manning presents himself during the trial. If he gives the impression of being a calculating spy who deliberately wanted to cause harm, the punishment will be greater than if it appears he was unable to understand his actions' consequences.

Justification

The question central to the trial is whether there's any justification for Mr Manning's actions or, for that matter, a legal requirement to honour it, says Dutch lawyer Bart Stapert. Mr Stapert specializes in human rights and American law. So far, the defence has paid much attention to Mr Manning's personal life.

"Supporters of Manning and WikiLeaks always insist that this can be justified, even if he did it deliberately. It was important information that should not be kept away from the public. I think that line is legally difficult to follow in this lawsuit. And so the defence case rests on the personal circumstances of Manning."

His lawyers and human rights activists complained repeatedly about his "inhuman" prison regime. Since April last year, Mr Manning has been held in another prison with a slighly more flexible regime. According to Mr Stapert, a military tribunal is unlikely to take that into account.

Julian Assange

American military researchers found the phone number of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Mr Manning's computer. Mr Assange has never cited him as a source, though has expressed support for Mr Manning. This relationship could prove important in the future, says Mr Stapert. The Americans are intent on achieving Mr Assange's extradition. To get a reduced sentence, Mr Manning could at some point testify against him.

Severe regime

The lawsuit concerning the American soldier is receiving worldwide attention, not least because it is so far the only one of the voluminous WikiLeaks cases to come to court. But many more people were involved, says Mr Stapert.

"What I find harrowing is that a lot of other people have used WikiLeaks information. Reputable newspapers have also used it to increase their circulation, so they have benefitted from the information. Although everyone is devouring it, it's also just juicy information for anyone involved in foreign policy concerns. But Bradley Manning gets the full weight of government on his head because this has come out. That's hardly fair, and a fair-minded judge would have to consider that."

The American public doesn't know what to make of the matter. To some, he's a traitor. Others see him as a frustrated homosexual who has suffered an identity crisis spurred on by the US Army's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. He is adored by those who praise him for daring to bring to light US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Early this week, the former intelligence specialist was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. A group of Icelandic parliamentarians asked for the nomination to focus attention on the precarious legal position of whistleblowers.

Obama proposes corporate tax cut and says system needs to change

President's plan would set a new corporate tax rate of 28% – but Republicans in Congress say that is still too high

guardian.co.uk, Associated Press, Wednesday 22 February 2012 

Barack Obama's plan would mean corporations would have to give up
dozens of cherished loopholes and subsidies. Photograph: Andrew Harrer/EPA

President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed a lower corporate tax rate and an end to dozens of loopholes he said helps US companies move jobs and profits overseas. "It's not right and it needs to change," he said.

The president wants to lower the US corporate tax rate from the current 35%, the highest in the world after Japan. Under his plan, manufacturers would receive incentives so that their effective tax rate could be even lower.

Obama's election-year plan would set a new 28% corporate tax rate, still higher than the 25% rate sought by congressional Republicans.

"It's a framework that lowers the corporate tax rate and broadens the tax base in order to increase competitiveness for companies across the nation," Obama said in a statement.

Corporations would have to give up dozens of cherished loopholes and subsidies that they now enjoy. Corporations with overseas operations would also face an unspecified minimum tax on their foreign earnings.

The proposal outlined by Geithner would also eliminate tax loopholes and subsidies that Geithner called "fundamentally unfair."

Obama also would set a minimum tax on the foreign earning of US companies.

Chances of accomplishing such change in the tax system are slim in a year dominated mostly with presidential and congressional elections. But for Obama, the proposal is part of a larger tax plan that is central to his re-election strategy.

Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, who rolled out the plan on Wednesday morning, acknowledged that the debate "will be politically contentious."

"Some will say these proposals are too tough on business, and others will say that they're not tough enough," he said.

Obama's plan would be part of a larger effort to overhaul the US tax system, and it dovetails with Obama's call for raising taxes on millionaires and maintaining current rates on individuals making $200,000 or less. But White House spokesman Jay Carney said Congress could act separately on the corporate tax component of Obama's overall tax strategy.

Republican reaction was mixed. House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp said he appreciated the administration's plan, though it set a corporate tax rate that is higher than the 25% he has proposed. He faulted Obama, however, for not offering a wholesale overhaul of the entire tax system for businesses and individuals.

"While this is a good step by the administration, I will borrow from the president's own words to Congress from just yesterday: 'Don't stop here. Keep going,'" Camp said in a statement. But seantor Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, dismissed the president's plan as a "set of bullet points designed more for the campaign trail than an actual blueprint for fixing our tax code."

While the 35% nominal corporate tax rate ranks among the highest, deductions, credits and exemptions allow many corporations to pay taxes at a much lower rate.

Under the framework proposed by the administration, the rate cuts, closed loopholes and the minimum tax on overseas earning would result in no increase to the deficit.

That means that many businesses that slip through loopholes or enjoy subsidies and pay an effective tax rate that is substantially less than the 35% corporate tax could end up paying more under Obama's plan. Others, however, would pay less while some would simply benefit from a more simplified system.

Reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% would reduce tax revenues by about $700bn over the next decade, according to an estimate prepared in October by the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress.

That means lawmakers would have to find about $70bn a year in tax increases to keep the package from adding to the budget deficit, hardly an easy task. In 2010, the corporate income tax raised a total of $278bn, according to the Internal Revenue Service. Corporate income taxes have been shrinking as a share of overall federal taxes for decades. In 2010, corporate income taxes made up just 12% of all federal tax receipts, down from 24% in 1960, according to the IRS.

Geithner said the Obama plan aims to help US businesses, especially manufacturers who face strong international competition. Obama's plan would lower the effective rate for manufacturers to 25% by offering other tax incentives that emphasize development of clean energy systems.

Many members of both parties have said they favor overhauling the nation's individual and corporate tax systems, which they complain have rates that are too high and are riddled with too many deductions.

The corporate tax debate has made its way into the presidential contest. Mitt Romney has called for a 25% rate, Newt Gingrich would cut the corporate tax rate to 12.5%, and Rick Santorum would exempt domestic manufacturers from the corporate tax and halve the top rate for other businesses.

While Obama has been promoting various aspects of his economic agenda in personal appearances and speeches, the decision to leave the corporate tax plan to the Treasury Department to unveil signaled its lower priority.

What's more, the administration's framework leaves much for Congress to decide — a deliberate move by the administration to encourage negotiations but which also doesn't subject the plan to detailed scrutiny.

Obama's plan is not as ambitious as a House Republican proposal that would lower the corporate rate to 25%.

Still, Obama has said corporate tax rates are too high and has proposed eliminating tax breaks for American companies that move jobs and profits overseas. He also has proposed giving tax breaks to US manufacturers, to firms that return jobs to this country and to companies that relocate to some communities that have lost big employers.

Geithner told a House committee last week that the administration wants to create more incentives for corporations to invest in the United States.

"We want to bring down the rate, and we think we can, to a level that's closer to the average of that of our major competitors," Geithner told the House Ways and Means Committee.

White House economic adviser Gene Sperling has advocated a minimum tax on global profits. Currently many corporations do not invest overseas profits in the United States to avoid the 35% tax rate.

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Web crash after Italian ministers list Vespa and Harley-Davidson as assets

Online register overwhelmed as Mario Monti's cabinet members detail their income and assets following transparency drive

guardian.co.uk, Tom Kington in Rome, Wednesday 22 February 2012

George W Bush, then the US president, climbs on a Harley-Davidson
 while touring company premises in Pennsylvania in 2006. One Italian
 cabinet member has listed such a bike in the register of assets.
Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Mario Monti's "grey" government of technocrats and professors in Italy may not be so dull after all. Thanks to a transparency drive which compelled ministers to list income and assets online, Italians have discovered to their surprise that the cabinet includes millionaires and fans of Harley-Davidson and Vespa.

After promising to cut tax evasion and endemic fraud, Monti set an honest example by going public with his cabinet's wealth. The results were so intriguing the government's website crashed due to intense traffic when they were published.

Top earner is justice minister Paola Severino, a lawyer, who pocketed €7m (£4.5m) last year.

"I am proud of making money legally and paying my taxes to the last euro," said the minister, who handed over €4m in tax in 2011. This year her ministerial salary stands at €195,000.

Second richest is Corrado Passera, minister for economic development and the former head of Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, who earned €3.5m before joining the government.

Apart from the odd Jaguar, motor yacht and the Harley-Davidson owned by 65-year-old foreign minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, ministers favour sensible Japanese and Italian cars.

But while one vice minister gets around on a Vespa and environment minister Corrado Clini nips around in a Fiat 500.

Ministers appear to have splashed instead on real estate, including properties in New York, Brussels, Paris and a ski resort in the Dolomites. Monti is the proud owner of 16 properties, although Piero Giarda, keen to show he is no tycoon, published photos of stone huts he owns in the Alps.

"I had a look at the sites of other G7 leaders and struggled to find anything comparable to our initiative," said Monti.

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Swiss take steps to clean up tax-haven image

Swiss take steps to clean up tax-haven image

Reuters, BERNE | Wed Feb 22, 2012 

(Reuters) - Switzerland announced plans on Wednesday to force banks to do more to make sure foreign clients' money is taxed in an attempt to shake off its past as a haven for untaxed funds as it seeks to put an end to a damaging U.S. tax probe.

"The focus is on enhanced due diligence requirements for banks when accepting assets as well as a requirement for foreign clients to make a declaration on the fulfillment of their tax obligations," the cabinet said in a statement.

The announcement comes on top of a raft of measures already announced in recent years, including a planned withholding tax on foreign assets held in Switzerland and better co-operation with foreign authorities pursuing alleged tax dodgers.

A global crackdown from cash-strapped governments in recent years has chipped away Switzerland's cherished tradition of banking secrecy, which helped it build up a $2 trillion offshore wealth management industry.

(Reporting by Caroline Copley)

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Anti-piracy ACTA treaty referred to EU high court

Deutsche Welle, 22 February 2012

The European Commission said Wednesday it would present the controversial ACTA treaty on copyright and counterfeiting law to the European Court of Justice, to rule whether it violates the fundamental rights of Europeans.

The EU Commission has asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality of the controversial ACTA treaty which regulates counterfeiting, copyright and Internet freedom and has been fiercly opposed around Europe.

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the court could adjudge independently on whether the treaty was "incompatible one way or another with the fundamental rights and freedoms of the European Union."

"This debate must be based upon facts, and not upon the misinformation and rumour that has dominated social media sites and blogs in recent weeks," De Gucht told a news conference in announcing the decision.

He said the agreement "aims to raise global standards for intellectual property rights" and said ACTA "will help protect jobs currently lost because counterfeited, pirated good worth 200 billion euros ($264 billion) are currently floating around."

Critics of the ACTA treaty have argued that it restricts Internet freedom. Recent weeks have seen mass demonstrations around Europe against the treaty, which has already been agreed to at the EU level but must still be ratified by individual member states.

Germany has refused, for now, to sign the international online anti-piracy treaty. The German government had already agreed in principle, but appears to be wavering in the face of public protest. Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has suggested that the government was not prepared to give the treaty the green light. The United States, Japan and Canada are also among signatories.

dfm/ai (AFP, Reuters)

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Johnson & Johnson CEO Bill Weldon retires in April

Associated Press, by Linda A. Johson, AP Business Writer, Feb 21, 2012 

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Johnson & Johnson's longtime CEO, Bill Weldon, is retiring this April, following an embarrassing string of product recalls over more than 2 years that has cost the health care giant hundreds of millions of dollars and consumer trust.

(AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

The maker of Band-Aids and biotech drugs said Tuesday that Weldon will remain chairman of the board for the time being, while ceding the chief executive post to Alex Gorsky, head of the medical device and diagnostics business. The official transfer will be on April 26, the day of the company's next annual shareholders meeting.

Weldon, 63, has spent his entire career at J&J and became chief executive in 2002. The departure is being described as normal succession planning, but Weldon has repeatedly said he had no plans to leave unless asked to do so by the board of directors, which has long been loyal to him.

His tenure has been tarnished by more than two dozen recalls of nonprescription Tylenol, Motrin, Benadryl and other drugs began in 2009. Medical devices and consumer products also have been recalled.

J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit has had about 25 product recalls since September 2009. Federal regulators have had three of its factories under scrutiny for nearly two years, and one of those, in Fort Washington, Pa., has been shut and is being rebuilt from the ground up.

Meanwhile, the prescription drug division has had at least two drugs, for seizures and HIV, recalled over that time. Gorsky's medical device unit, the company's biggest by revenue, has had faulty hip implants that were painful to patients recalled, along with contact lenses that sting the eyes.

While there haven't been reports of patients harmed by the recalled products, the sheer volume of them is probably unrivaled in the industry. Weldon has repeatedly said he had the problems under control, only to have another recall pop up, with the latest just last week.

William Weldon compensation

 package is about $29.3 million,

 according to page 43 of this SEC

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The Large Families that rule the world

"The Many 'Shoulds' "  – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: .. Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Food, Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !