AMERICAN NOTES

MORE THAN HALF OF PSYCHIATRISTS WHO WORKED ON DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL HAD
FINANCIAL TIES TO DRUG INDUSTRY

BENEDICT CAREY, NY TIMES More than half the psychiatrists who took part
in developing a widely used diagnostic manual for mental disorders had
financial ties to drug companies before or after the manual was
published, public health researchers reported yesterday. The researchers
found that 95 - or 56 percent - of 170 experts who worked on the 1994
edition of the manual, called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or
DSM, had at least one monetary relationship with a drug maker in the
years from 1989 to 2004. The most frequent tie involved money for
research, according to the study, an analysis of financial records and
conflict-of-interest statements.

The percentage was higher - 100 percent in some cases - for experts who
worked on sections of the manual devoted to severe mental illnesses,
like schizophrenia, the study found. But the authors, from Tufts
University and the University of Massachusetts, were not able to
establish how many of the psychiatrists were receiving money from drug
companies while the manual was being compiled.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/20/health/20psych.html?ei=5090&en=
2b53dcbfd364d8f1&ex=1303185600&adxnnl=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=
rss&adxnnlx=1145538558-fu4ClLx0qQJe9Kuo8XLSvg


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STUDY FINDS OIL COMPANY PROFITS NOT CRUDE PRICES DRIVING INCREASED FUEL
COSTS

CONSUMER WATCHDOG - The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
released a new study today of rising gasoline prices in California that
found corporate markups and profiteering are responsible for spring
price spikes, not rising crude costs or the national switchover to
higher-cost ethanol, as the oil industry claims.

Independent petroleum consultant Tim Hamilton analyzed gasoline price
increases from January to April to find that:

Increases in the "spot" market price of crude oil -- which is the
highest price a major oil company would pay for crude oil -- accounted
for only 12 cents per gallon. California's percentage sales tax
increased fuel prices by another four cents per gallon. More than 40
cents of the 60-cent increase in gasoline prices over 3 1/2 months is
attributable to increased refinery and marketing profit margins for the
oil companies; Neither the MTBE phaseout nor the substitution of ethanol
is a serious part of the increase. . .

The profit increase of 42 cents, on top of record profits last year,
means California gasoline will cost consumers approximately $546 million
more in April 2006 than in April of last year. . . Oil companies are
opportunistically using the rising world price for crude oil as an
excuse to excessively raise gasoline prices and pump up their profits,
even though the spot market price for crude has gone up far more slowly
than gasoline prices," said FTCR President Jamie Court. "In addition,
the spot price is higher than most oil companies pay, since they either
harvest their own crude or pay more stable and often much lower contract
prices.

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/pr/?postId=6133

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HIGH HOUSING PRICES CAUSING NEW MIGRATION PATTERN

STEPHEN OHLEMACHER ASSOCIATED PRESS - Americans are leaving the nation's
big cities in search of cheaper homes and open spaces farther out.
Nearly every large metropolitan area had more people move out than move
in from 2000 to 2004, with a few exceptions in the South and Southwest,
according to a report being released Thursday by the Census Bureau.
Northeasterners are moving South and West. West Coast residents are
moving inland. Midwesterners are chasing better job markets. And just
about everywhere, people are escaping to the outer suburbs, also known
as exurbs. "It's a case of middle class flight, a flight for housing
affordability," said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings
Institution, a Washington think tank. "But it's not just white middle
class flight, it's Hispanics and blacks, too."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Fleeing_Big_Cities.html

SAM ROBERTS, NY TIMES - Maine, Rhode Island, Maryland and Wyoming,
which lost population to other states in the 1990's, have gained
residents from elsewhere in the country since 2000.

In five other states - Indiana, Minnesota, Utah, Mississippi and
Oklahoma - the pattern was reversed: more people moved out than in from
other states. . .

In California, on average, 221,000 more people moved out every year than
moved in from other states in the 1990's. From 2000 to 2004, the annual
average net loss declined to 99,000 as more Californians moved inland
from cities on the coast instead of moving to other states. San
Bernardino has gained more migrants annually since 2000 than any other
metropolitan area.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/20/us/20census.html?ex=
1303185600&en=834a349be3a0b03e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


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WORLD
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CHAVEZ TURNING OFF THE TAPS TO U.S.

V HEADLINES - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is taking decisive steps
to turn off the oil taps to the United States of America.Venezuela's
state owned oil company PDVSA has inked a key deal with India, taking
the first key step away from the U.S. as its major oil buyer. At the
same time, PDVSA has announced that it will no longer reveal oil
statistics to the SEC after paying off its debts.

The India deal and the refusal to disclose information are not just
strategic, but also send a message to the US about Venezuela's future
plans with regard to supplying the US with oil. . .

According to Stratfor.com: "While the new deal with India is relatively
small, given that Venezuela produces more than 2 million barrels of oil
in a single day, it nevertheless represents a step down a sustainable
path toward diversifying Caracas' oil markets."

http://vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=54315

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HEALTH & SCIENCE
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EXPERTS WHO JUST OUGHT TO SHUT UP FOR A FEW DAYS

MED PAGE - Although some dark chocolate may have antioxidant properties
and perhaps also benefits for cardiovascular disease, commercial
chocolate -- all those Easter bunnies and Easter eggs -- contains too
much sugar and fat to make it a healthy treat. So says Roger Corder,
Ph.D., of the William Harvey Research Institute in London. When it comes
to obesity and heart disease, he maintains, "Let's face it: Chocolate
Easter eggs are risk factors."
"Fat is one of the risk factors and sugar is another," Dr. Corder said
in an interview, and commercial chocolate -- especially the milky
variety much loved at Easter -- is high in both.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/PreventiveCare/tb1/3100

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THE MEDIACRACY
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ENTROPY BEAT: IT ONLY TAKES AN EGO TO LOWER A WHOLE VILLAGE VOICE

SINCE THE NEW TIMES has taken over the Village Voice, 17 staffers have
left, having either resigned or been fired. According to the NY
Observer, "Much of the front of the book is being overhauled. Mr.
Ridgeway's column has been killed, and so has Mr. Schanberg's Press
Clips column and Toni Schlesinger's Shelter column, which provided
quirky interactions with apartment and loft dwellers. The film-review
budget has been cut by two-thirds, according to a source, and some film
reviews are now being contributed by freelance writers from other New
Times papers. According to Voice staffers, New Times has also dismissed
The Voice's three-person fact-checking department and laid off two of
the five copy editors. Last month, Mr. Lacey killed interim editor Ward
Harkavy's blog, the Bush Beat. The end-page essay has been
discontinued."

New executive editor Michael Lacey - in the manner of many narcissistic
climbers of his generation - seems to be using arrogance as a substitute
for talent. Not only does this prove painful for those in the vicinity,
it's not a particularly good way of doing business for not only does it
annoy the writers, it annoys those who like to read them. There are
better ways of increasing circulation than chasing away what you've got.


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PULITZERS MEAN NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY

ALEXANDER COCKBURN, COUNTERPUNCH - The central project of the Pulitzer
Prizes for work done in 2005 has been to remind the world that,
appearances to the contrary, the nation is well served by its premier
east coast newspapers, the New York Times and the Washington Post.

I should rephrase that. The central project of the Pulitzer Prize
committee is always to perform that function, only this year the need
was more pressing than usual. 2005 was a bad year for the New York
Times, dominated by steady disclosure of its important role in
manufacturing and then disseminating lies designed to plunge the nation
into war in Iraq. . .

One would have thought that the New York Times would have simply
withdrawn its name from contention in the 2006 Pulitzers, but shame was
short-lived and the assigned function of the Pulitzer Prize Committee
was to winch the paper's name out of the mud.

The Committee's composition made this task easier. On the
eighteen-member board sits Thomas Friedman of the New York Times,
Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Columbia J-school and contributor to the
New York Times magazine, and Paul Tash, boss of the St Petersburg Times,
which is owned by the New York Times.

http://www.counterpunch.com/cockburn04192006.html

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OTHER NEWS
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NEW ENGLANDERS SWITCH FROM CAR TO TRAIN GIVEN HIGH OIL PRICES

BOSTON GLOBE - With gas prices surging upward again, ticket sales are
hot for the Portland-to-Boston Downeaster passenger train. Winter is
usually a slow season for the Downeaster, but this year has been an
exception, with ridership for the quarter up 35 percent over last year's
figure. Many of the trains are now sold out days in advance. To
accommodate all of the riders, the Northern New England Passenger Rail
Authority has added a car to one of its trains during school vacation
week. The rail authority says it is now talking to Amtrak about getting
an extra car for the tourism season ahead. . .

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2006/04/20/
tickets_hot_for_portland_boston_passenger_train/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Maine+news