Update (6/12/07) My site meter just showed an interesting visitor to this post, Golin Harris.
Would you like to know who they are?
Working for Dow
In March 2006 Golin Harris was appointed to run a global campaign to help clean up the poor reputation of Dow Chemical. In an email to O'Dwyers PR Daily, Dow Chemical staffer Terri McNeill wrote that the company wants "stakeholders to better understand how its products, people and actions contribute to human progress."[1] Dow has refused to compensate the victims of the 1984 Bhopal disaster in India, a liability it inherited when it took over Union Carbide.[2]
Managing NGO Activists
On August 23, 2006 G-H issued a press release on its 50th anniversary, emphasizing its "specialty areas" of work. Number one of seven highlighted areas is 'Engage: Activist Issues Management'. According to G-H, "In response to the growing influence of NGOs, GolinHarris has formalized its approach to leverage and deflect the influence of activists on issues ranging from the environment to animal welfare." [3]
Who manufactured the majority of Agent Orange? Dow Chemical
Agent Orange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vietnam. Defoliation Mission. A UH-1D helicopter from the 336th Aviation Company sprays a defoliation agent on a dense jungle area in the
Mekong delta.,
July 26,
1969 Agent Orange and "Super Orange" were the nicknames given to a herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was used from 1961 to 1971, and was by far the most used of the so-called "rainbow herbicides" utilized during the program. Degradation of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) released dioxins, which have allegedly caused harm to the health of those exposed during the Vietnam War. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins. Studies of populations highly exposed to dioxin, though not necessarily Agent Orange, indicate increased risk of various types of cancer and genetic defects; the effect of long term low level exposure has not been established. Since the 1980s, several lawsuits have been filed against the companies who produced Agent Orange, among them being Dow Chemical, Monsanto and Diamond Shamrock (produced only 5% [1]). U. S. veterans obtained a $180 million settlement in 1984, most affected veterans receiving a one-time lump sum payment of $1,200. American veterans of the war on Vietnam were seeking recognition of Agent Orange, compensation and treatment for maladies that they and their children suffered from; many Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange have not been able to receive promised medical care through the VA medical system and only with rare exception have their affected children received healthcare assistance from the government. Vietnam veterans and their families who brought the original Agent Orange lawsuit stated 25 years ago that the government "is just waiting for us all to die". They alleged that most of those still alive will succumb to the effects of toxic exposure over the next several years, before age 65. Elsewhere, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand veterans obtained compensation in an out-of-court settlement that same year. In 1999, South Korean veterans filed a lawsuit in Korea; in January 2006, the Korean Appeal Court ordered Monsanto and Dow to pay $62 million in compensation. However, no Vietnamese have obtained compensation, and on March 10, 2005 Judge Jack Weinstein of Brooklyn Federal Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange against the chemical companies that produced the defoliants/herbicides.
Update: June 14, 2007 (Flag Day, representing our country and what we stand for, a NATION of LAWS embodied in the Constitution guaranteeing free speech in the FIRST AMMENDMENT)
Visitor:
| Domain Name | | dow.com ? (Commercial) |
| IP Address | | 216.99.65.# (The Dow Chemical Company) |
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsiblity Campaign P.O. Box 303 - Prince Station - New York - NY 10012-0006
Dear Friends,
---- All out in NY ------------------------------------------------------
*** June 13 at 1:00 PM at the Church Center for the UN, 777
777 UN Plaza.
*** June 16 at 6:30 PM Martin Luther King Jr. Labor Center,
310 West 43rd Street to hear directly from Vietnamese
Agent Orange victims and U.S. veterans.
*** June 17 at noon Mass at Church of San Romero...
*** June 18 at noon in Foley Square/1:00 pm at Court of Appeals,
500 Pearl Street (1 block behind Foley Square) to support the
lawsuit against Dow Chemical and 36 other Agent Orange
manufacturers. Ten U.S. cities and Paris will join actions to
support the Vietnamese AO victims.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
On June 9, victims of Agent Orange will leave Hanoi, heading to
the U.S. to attend a June 18th court hearing on their lawsuit
against Dow Chemical and for an 18 day national speaking tour.
The tour is sponsored by Vietnam Agent Orange Relief &
Responsibility Campaign, Veterans For Peace, Vietnam
Veterans Against the War, National Lawyers Guild and
United for Peace & Justice.
The goal of the tour is to meet the US peoples face to face.
In a June 1st appeal, Vietnam’s Agent Orange victims wrote:
"The Vietnam War has passed for almost 30 years, yet several
million Vietnamese are still suffering physically and mentally
from diseases caused by the U.S. spraying of dioxin-laced toxic
chemicals, particularly Agent Orange. This responsibility, as a
matter of course, should rest on the U.S."
The members of the delegation are:
-- Prof. Tran Xuan Thu (68), Head of the Delegation, Vice President of
the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin--the
organization representing the plaintiffs.
-- Nguyen Muoi (24), a second generation victim from Hue who got
spina bifida, from his father, an ARVN cook served in A Luoi.
-- Nguyen Thi Hong (60), from Bien Hoa who had multiple premature
births and serious illnesses from living near Agent Orange
contaminated Bien Hung Lake.
-- Nguyen Van Quy (52) Veteran, communication line repairman from
Thai Binh, served on the HCM Trail from 1972-1975, suffers from
stomach cancer, liver damage and has 3 disabled children.
-- Vo Van Hai (48) a post-war victim, a forest tree replanter from Hue
who suffers from Hodgkins Disease as a result of dioxin in food and
water in heavily sprayed Nam Dong in 1980's.
-- Hoang Cong Thuy, Interpreter, Secretary General of Vietnam-USA
Society.
The Court of Appeals on June 18, 2007 will decide three
Agent Orange appeals, the first two from U.S. veterans, and the last, the
Vietnamese victims' case.
The Court decided on May 4 to refuse to accept amicus briefs for
the victims from Veterans for Peace and the Vietnamese Lawyers
Association et. al. Yet, the Court allowed a amicus briefs from the
Bush Administration and the conservative Washington Legal
Foundation for the U.S. chemical companies.
The Agent Orange victims’ delegation will visit 5 cities, San Francisco,
New York, Washington DC, and Chicago to speak to the American
public face to face, to shake hands and to share experiences.
On June 18, there will be actions in 10 cities across
the US in support of justice for Vietnamese Agent Orange victims.
In New York, we will gather at Foley Square at noon, and at 1:00 go
to the U.S. Court of Appeals a block away at 500 Pearl Street to fill
the court room. Afterwards there will be a joint press conference of U.S.
veterans and Vietnamese victims outside the Court room.
We need your support:
-- Donate money to support the tour at by sending tax
deductible checks
Payable to: Veterans For Peace/VAORRC
and send to
Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign
P.O. Box 303 - Prince Station
New York, NY 10012-0006
We urgently need your donation to support the tour.
-- Organize to achieve justice for Vietnam's Agent Orange
victims by:
* Attending the activities in New York on June 16 & 18
* Organizing a June 18th activity in your city. Contact us
for more information and materials.
No comments:
Post a Comment