Scandals

• While governments around the world are patting themselves on the back for stocking up on the viral-resistance drug Tamiflu (so far the sole line of defence against avian flu), scientists are quietly warning that Tamiflu might not be effective because the flu virus is rapidly mutating. Patients in Vietnam have already developed resistance to the drug. If Tamiflu does prove to be effective in most cases, however, a lot of people are still going to be screwed out of treatment because Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical behemoth that manufactures Tamiflu, refuses to release the patent so that affordable generic versions of the drug can be produced quickly.

• This is a scandal that's been brewing all over the world for decades, but I was totally unaware of it until my friend A. considered selling natural gas contracts: In Alberta, natural gas consumers are locked in to a fixed rate for 4-5 years by a contract that gives them 2500 gigajules/year. However, the average Alberta consumer uses about 240 gigajules/year.

• And on the local front, several Edmonton businessman are being investigated for mortgage fraud. They pretended to be mortgage experts and swindled several potential home-buyers. Nothing new, I'm sure, but one of these guys was head of the Better Business Bureau. He has been laid off until the investigation is complete.