RTE report exposes timber trade between Burma and China

RTÉ News carried a special report Foreign Editor Margaret Ward on the timber trade between China and Burma. Ostensibly China banned imports of timbers from Burma. However Margaret Ward’s report proves conclusively that the trade between Burma and China continues unabated.

Ward posed as a purchaser and found that there was no difficulty in sourcing timber at the right price. The Burmese junta benefits enormously from this trade. According to the report Burmese timber is also finding its way to Korea, Japan and Europe. Kudos to Ward and the RTE team for such a penetrating report which is just one of many coming from China.

Unfortunately China consistently refuses to play by the rules in Burma, Tibet and Sudan. China has provided support for the Butchers of Rangoon on a consistent basis. This enabled the junta to crush the 2007 uprising using tactics perfected by China.

The Ward Diaries are a fountain of information on China.

On his first visit to China, British foreign secretary David Miliband rejected calls for an Olympic boycott. The Beijing Olympics provided an excellent opportunity to leverage concession from China but unfortunately the international community is prepared to overlook human rights violations by China in the interests of trade.

Ireland-Dr James Reilly (FG) exposes major deficiencies in cancer detection at Portlaoise Hospital

FG health spokesman, Dr James Reilly, called for Mary Harney’s resignation following the revelation today that 97 women who had breast ultrasounds at Portlaoise Hospital are to be recalled for surgical review.
This devastating news was revealed on foot of a question he put at the Oireachtas Health Committee rather than through direct contact from the HSE. RTE television News in its report failed to credit Dr Reilly with this question.

Dr Reilly stated "These reviews of ultrasounds were taking place at the same time as the review of mammograms. This means that the HSE has had three months to inform women of this need for a surgical review as it emerged, but failed to do so."
.
He said that while 97 women had so far been recalled, and claimed that with 177 clinical cases still to be reviewed, the probability is that more women would be recalled for review.
Dr Reilly said that more women might have been given false all clears, in addition to the nine already identified as having been misdiagnosed following the review of mammograms at the hospital.
"The Minister was alerted to the problems in this area two-and-a-half years ago and failed to take control of the problem and simply passed the buck."

Dr Reilly is one of the star performers in the Dail.He is highly talented,articulate, forceful and well briefed.