The Exaggerations Made About Bird Flu

Topic locked
  • Reply
The Exaggerations made about Bird flu Mar 14, 2006
Since Bird Flu is the issue that most of the news are talking about today and since I also have my conservations about it as a disease just came out of the blue although it’s a 4000 years old and suddenly it start to be the focus of the world. This article came out yesterday from “the Independent” that says the following:


http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ame ... 350787.ece


Donald Rumsfeld makes $5m killing on bird flu drug

By Geoffrey Lean and Jonathan Owen
Published: 12 March 2006
Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease.

More than 60 countries have so far ordered large stocks of the antiviral medication - the only oral medicine believed to be effective against the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease - to try to protect their people. The United Nations estimates that a pandemic could kill 150 million people worldwide.

Britain is about halfway through receiving an order of 14.6 million courses of the drug, which the Government hopes will avert some of the 700,000 deaths that might be expected. Tamiflu does not cure the disease, but if taken soon after symptoms appear it can reduce its severity.

The drug was developed by a Californian biotech company, Gilead Sciences. It is now made and sold by the giant chemical company Roche, which pays it a royalty on every tablet sold, currently about a fifth of its price.

Mr Rumsfeld was on the board of Gilead from 1988 to 2001, and was its chairman from 1997. He then left to join the Bush administration, but retained a huge shareholding .

The firm made a loss in 2003, the year before concern about bird flu started. Then revenues from Tamiflu almost quadrupled, to $44.6m, helping put the company well into the black. Sales almost quadrupled again, to $161.6m last year. During this time the share price trebled.

Mr Rumsfeld sold some of his Gilead shares in 2004 reaping - according to the financial disclosure report he is required to make each year - capital gains of more than $5m. The report showed that he still had up to $25m-worth of shares at the end of 2004, and at least one analyst believes his stake has grown well beyond that figure, as the share price has soared. Further details are not likely to become known, however, until Mr Rumsfeld makes his next disclosure in May.

The 2005 report showed that, in all, he owned shares worth up to $95.9m, from which he got an income of up to $13m, owned land worth up to $17m, and made $1m from renting it out.

He also had illiquid investments worth up to $8.1m, including in partnerships investing in biotechnology, issuing reproductions of paintings, and operating art galleries in New Mexico and Wyoming. He also has life insurance with a surrender value of up to $5m, and received up to $1m from the DHR Foundation, in which he has assets worth up to $25m, and $773,743 from the Donald H Rumsfeld Trust, in which he has assets of up to $50m.

Late last week no one at Gilead Sciences was available to comment on Mr Rumsfeld's sale of its stock. In a statement to The Independent on Sunday the Pentagon said: "Secretary Rumsfeld has no relationship with Gilead Sciences, Inc beyond his investments in the company. When he became Secretary of Defence in January 2001, divestiture of his investment in Gilead was not required by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Office of Government Ethics or the Department of Defence Standards of Conduct Office.

"Upon taking office, he recused himself from participating in any particular matter when the matter would directly and predictably affect his financial interest in Gilead Sciences."

Donald Rumsfeld has made a killing out of bird flu. The US Defence Secretary has made more than $5m (£2.9m) in capital gains from selling shares in the biotechnology firm that discovered and developed Tamiflu, the drug being bought in massive amounts by Governments to treat a possible human pandemic of the disease.

More than 60 countries have so far ordered large stocks of the antiviral medication - the only oral medicine believed to be effective against the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease - to try to protect their people. The United Nations estimates that a pandemic could kill 150 million people worldwide.

Britain is about halfway through receiving an order of 14.6 million courses of the drug, which the Government hopes will avert some of the 700,000 deaths that might be expected. Tamiflu does not cure the disease, but if taken soon after symptoms appear it can reduce its severity.

The drug was developed by a Californian biotech company, Gilead Sciences. It is now made and sold by the giant chemical company Roche, which pays it a royalty on every tablet sold, currently about a fifth of its price.

Mr Rumsfeld was on the board of Gilead from 1988 to 2001, and was its chairman from 1997. He then left to join the Bush administration, but retained a huge shareholding .

The firm made a loss in 2003, the year before concern about bird flu started. Then revenues from Tamiflu almost quadrupled, to $44.6m, helping put the company well into the black. Sales almost quadrupled again, to $161.6m last year. During this time the share price trebled.

Mr Rumsfeld sold some of his Gilead shares in 2004 reaping - according to the financial disclosure report he is required to make each year - capital gains of more than $5m. The report showed that he still had up to $25m-worth of shares at the end of 2004, and at least one analyst believes his stake has grown well beyond that figure, as the share price has soared. Further details are not likely to become known, however, until Mr Rumsfeld makes his next disclosure in May.
The 2005 report showed that, in all, he owned shares worth up to $95.9m, from which he got an income of up to $13m, owned land worth up to $17m, and made $1m from renting it out.

He also had illiquid investments worth up to $8.1m, including in partnerships investing in biotechnology, issuing reproductions of paintings, and operating art galleries in New Mexico and Wyoming. He also has life insurance with a surrender value of up to $5m, and received up to $1m from the DHR Foundation, in which he has assets worth up to $25m, and $773,743 from the Donald H Rumsfeld Trust, in which he has assets of up to $50m.

Late last week no one at Gilead Sciences was available to comment on Mr Rumsfeld's sale of its stock. In a statement to The Independent on Sunday the Pentagon said: "Secretary Rumsfeld has no relationship with Gilead Sciences, Inc beyond his investments in the company. When he became Secretary of Defence in January 2001, divestiture of his investment in Gilead was not required by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Office of Government Ethics or the Department of Defence Standards of Conduct Office.

"Upon taking office, he recused himself from participating in any particular matter when the matter would directly and predictably affect his financial interest in Gilead Sciences."

Intimacy
Dubai forums Addict
Posts: 329

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
Interesting on how this guy always seems to make a shwak of money on tragedy, He made/is making way more from one of his other companies because of the Iraq invasion.
fayz
Dubai Forums Knight
User avatar
Posts: 2880
Location: take a left at the Bebsi interchange, that is the Bebsi interchange

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
now what's the diff bet alqaeda mullah and this fool? yeah one has media as friends and other didnt get the luck. Ah and one more thing they are bad boys not even UN can mess with them. Btw did u see donald shaking hands with saddam in 70's video? heheh he looked like elton . and did u know what was the agenda of the meeting? many of u wont beleive
sniper420
Dubai Forums Zealot
Posts: 3723
Location: On Mother Earth with love

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
Well...if the US could attack their own towers, kill their own people to create a pretext for war...then why not this....sorry state of the world... :cry:

http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/9-11_wtc_videos.html
AFG
Dubai Forums Frequenter
User avatar
Posts: 144

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
The US didn't need 9/11 to create the groundwork for an attack on Iraq - they still could have done it without the 9/11 attacks. For this pretty obvious reason, I don't buy into the conspiracy theories.
kanelli
Miss DubaiForums 2006
User avatar
Posts: 6979
Location: In the Jungle

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
They started with Afghanisthan....I still remember being onboard a luxury cruise in Far Eastern waters and watching videos of the attacks. I remember looking at the Pentagon video and saying that looks like a missile has gone thru the building....how come the wings didn't do any damage and then when I saw footage of the airline that missed hitting anything but supposedly landed in a field...I thought something was wrong and they were showing the wrong video...because there was no aircraft just some burt grass and new grass had already grown over the burnt areas.

I actually went looking for info on conspiracy....because I thought something was wrong....was not too surprised to find it. So I am a believer

Give it a chance...look at the videos....Man may have landed on the moon - Yes, but this conspiracy theory abt WTC is too real for me. The video...Boieng's statement....
AFG
Dubai Forums Frequenter
User avatar
Posts: 144

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
kanelli wrote:The US didn't need 9/11 to create the groundwork for an attack on Iraq - they still could have done it without the 9/11 attacks. For this pretty obvious reason, I don't buy into the conspiracy theories.


Hi Kaneli,

Actually the US Gov. tried to do that during J.F.K time, a general in the US army -who i forget his name - was trying to hijack aircraft to hit buildings like the Empire state and other big buildings in the US to blame cuba and start a war... that was at the time of the conflict of Cuba and the US. JFK didnt aprove the plan, and it was one of the reasons behind his elimintion, the same thing happend to Bill clinton when he opposed to war against iraq and Afghanstan, they used Monica's scandel.

the documetns for using the planes at JFK time are available .. its even in one of the videos which i have posted earlier ( you could see them there in the video), its available even from the FBI.

As i used to say when i was younge :lol: : (Its a Matrix, every figure effects the other)...


Cheers
Intimacy
Dubai forums Addict
Posts: 329

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
AFG wrote:They started with Afghanisthan....I still remember being onboard a luxury cruise in Far Eastern waters and watching videos of the attacks. I remember looking at the Pentagon video and saying that looks like a missile has gone thru the building....how come the wings didn't do any damage and then when I saw footage of the airline that missed hitting anything but supposedly landed in a field...I thought something was wrong and they were showing the wrong video...because there was no aircraft just some burt grass and new grass had already grown over the burnt areas.

I actually went looking for info on conspiracy....because I thought something was wrong....was not too surprised to find it. So I am a believer

Give it a chance...look at the videos....Man may have landed on the moon - Yes, but this conspiracy theory abt WTC is too real for me. The video...Boieng's statement....


if you wish i have the video for the complete analysis of the crap that they braodcast at the time of the shock to brain-wach the people. the video was made by an amircan agency and no TV channel agreed to broadcast it. you even could download it to see that there r videos which prove that there was something very wrong about what they have cliamed... video by FOX news which was live at that time and never been repeated!!!

and why?? ... i think i would leave that up to u all !!
Intimacy
Dubai forums Addict
Posts: 329

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
Yes...I am beyond calling it a conspiracy theory...I just believe it to be fact. I am in awe sometimes...that this barely gets discussed. How come no news channel I have heard of has dared to broadcast this.
AFG
Dubai Forums Frequenter
User avatar
Posts: 144

  • Reply
Mar 14, 2006
Guys

there was this writer many years ago called Enid Blyton that use to write bedtime stories for little children, she also wrote the series called the "secret seven".

You really do need to grow up.

:roll: :roll:
arniegang
UAE, Dubai Forums Lord of the posts
User avatar
Posts: 7007
Location: UK/Dubai

  • Reply
Mar 15, 2006
kanelli wrote:The US didn't need 9/11 to create the groundwork for an attack on Iraq - they still could have done it without the 9/11 attacks. For this pretty obvious reason, I don't buy into the conspiracy theories.


well they could convince the citizens and the world that their state is in danger and pass a law approving trillions of dollars in defence industry then who is to gain... I partially buy the conspiracy theory form teh site mentioned by AFG
sniper420
Dubai Forums Zealot
Posts: 3723
Location: On Mother Earth with love

  • Reply
Mar 15, 2006
Guys, the conspiracy theories have been looked at and that is why they are not being discussed a lot - because people don't believe it.

I've never heard about those events being planned in JFK's time Intimacy.

The US would rather attack foreign leaders on their soil, not kill thousands of their own citizens, especially when they don't need to. Again, enough propaganda and fear mongering that Saddam had WMD's was all that was needed to persuade support for the invasion of Iraq.

There is a saying that the simplest (edit) explanation is usually the correct one, and I really believe that is true. Too many people waste time dreaming up elaborate conspiracy theories and they have an agenda for further demonising a nation or group. It doesn't take much to get people to believe the worst about the US now. Maybe some countries will do the same thing - make up false information about alleged US conspiracies and atrocities and then go in for the kill.
kanelli
Miss DubaiForums 2006
User avatar
Posts: 6979
Location: In the Jungle

  • Reply
Mar 15, 2006
Hi Kaneli,

Video Link: http://www.archive.org/download/911theR ... yranny.wmv


Check the inputs from the ppl who saw the video here !!!
http://www.archive.org/details/911theRoadtoTyranny


i have it on a CD if u wish.. u will be shocked with the documented content.
Intimacy
Dubai forums Addict
Posts: 329

  • Reply
Mar 16, 2006
I read somewhere...by Conan Doyle ...something to the effect of...'If you eliminate what is impossible...what remains, regardless of how improbable is got to be the truth'.

Give it a chanc guys...don't bother with the text, just look at the videos..all of them and then you can bother with reading.
AFG
Dubai Forums Frequenter
User avatar
Posts: 144

  • Reply
Mar 16, 2006
well one think that really puzzles me is that FBI were quick to take off the security cameras in hotels gas stations etc... but never released em...instead they release a grainy version of video which didnt seem anything like a plane flying.
sniper420
Dubai Forums Zealot
Posts: 3723
Location: On Mother Earth with love

  • Reply
Mar 16, 2006
Yes..I also read that cameras on top of the WTC that used to relay live video for something...gotta check what it was...were swtiched off since early morning that day!!! :?
AFG
Dubai Forums Frequenter
User avatar
Posts: 144

posting in Health and Medicine in DubaiForum Rules

Return to Health and Medicine in Dubai


  • Related topics
    Replies
    Last post