Reed Elsevier, the publisher of many respectable scientific journals, and well known to librarians, has a little side business you may not know about. Through subsidiaries they sponsor arms fairs. We're not talking tiny gun shows, but huge events where people from all over the world, including countries with terrible human rights violations, come to buy weapons. Concerned? Read more at:
Reed Elsevier and the arms trade
Sign the petition requesting that Reed Elsevier stop organising the arms fairs. I'm number 1019 on the list.
In other news, Chiquita, best known for its bananas, has been fined $25 million for making payments to terrorist militias in Colombia supposedly to protect its employees. Despite being told over and over again that these payments were illegal, executives continued to okay the cheques (and eventually cash disbursements) up until 2004, when they sold off their interests in Colombia. For more on the story and some of the background of Chiquita, check out TruthDig's Chiquita’s Slipping Appeal. I know, it's a terribly liberal site. But the story has been covered by a variety of media, so feel free to Google the story elsewhere if you have an objection or are uncomfortable with their bias. Also, you can view Chiquita's statement online as well. In their favour, they voluntarily came to the Department of Justice with the information--although apparently not as soon as they should have. This fine is part of a plea agreement.
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