There's several things I'd like to write about today and they lend themselves to short riffs. Some, a continuum of issues I've commented on before, and some fun stuff.

I'm going to start with something fun today. Imagine that! As some of you know, I like to surf the 'net looking for new and interesting things. Earlier today I landed on John Mayer's blog, Musical Sound. YES! The talented young recording artist blogs! Imagine that. I've heard of the fella before but I didn't really know anything about the genre of his music nor his fantastic talent playing guitar. But most of all, it's his writing that glued me eyes to the page. For those of you who don't know, John Mayer is a musician, singer and songwriter. He can add writer to his list of accomplishments. I had such a grand time reading his very interesting blog entries and listening to some of his music, Gravity, being one of my favorite songs. Mayer's writing is fresh and truly thought-provoking. He has a way with words that had me thinking about putting my pen in a frame up on the wall with these words, "I used this pen to clean under my fingernails." Some of you will actually get it. I plan on continuing to explore Mayer's music and musings. He's that good.

Here's the newest item on the FDA website.
FOOD - Cheese may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Read rest of the article here on the FDA website.

I feel soooo bad to learn that newspaper circulation has fallen 2.1 percent and TV network execs face hard sell after dismal year. NOT! This is good news cuz it means the People are wising up as to who is destroying our way of life.

It's becoming more and more obvious that men are from Mars. Apparently Mars is being hit by climate changes, too, rapid climate changes, mind you, to the tune of losing its southern ice cap!! You see, if We the People are responsible for our planet's global warming (tricksy titters), then we can extrapolate this "scientific" finding and apply it to Mar's having a big house planet warming! Right? Therefore, it's men who caused this horrific disaster to begin with, right?!?!?! Can't blame this one on the ladies, uh uh. Women are from Venus, ah ha, ah ha .

Except we have a renegade. The US leading hurricane forecaster is blaming it all on ocean currents and opines the Earth may cool down on its own in 5-10 years. Funny we learn about this feasible theory by European newspapers, huh?

But... OwlGore is now calling Canada's new plan to curb greenhouse gases as "a complete and total fraud" because it lacks specifics, well..if anyone knows anything about complete and total fraud, it's OwlGore. He proved it at a recent congressional hearing. Sorry, Gore-lovers, but this whole global smarming mantra is giving Gore a reason to live (and make money), since his prior plan becoming a prezident is no longer in the realm of possibilities. I mean, if you realllllllllllly tink about it, wouldn't he be living what he espouses? Like maybe in a cave instead of the hu-mongous palace he presently resides in? How long will it take Man to understand man's insincerity and self-serving "causes" that make Man more than what Man really is....deep down inside. True altruism is rare and far between, indeed.

Nu Whirled Odor guru to end school violence . YES. Filmmaker, David Lynch, is going to teach 1M students around the world to meditate, putting an "end to school violence and turn schools into centers of creativity and peace." Tall order, wouldn't you think? Aside from the fact that I think everyone wants to be on the Uno-Whirled Govern-Wagon (bottle of champagne has hit its bow recently?), meditation could actually work, if it wasn't presented in the same way as mandatory Chinese exercise regimes done in lock-step like little robots. Things done in large mass tend to creep me out. Even good things, like mass meditation. I'm a former meditator, myself :) But I'm thinking about the teenagers, raging hormones and all. Wouldn't it be better to just lobotomize them all?!

Last, but not least. In case you didn't realize this before, World Bank Prezident Paul Wolfowitz has no plans to RESIGN. Not as long as it's a smear campaign. No! No! NO! The news about the figurative no confidence vote from World Bank staff, the fact hardly noone likes him around the world, and that pesky little fact about his mistress's (ex-World Bank employee) preferential treatment, has nothing to do with anything. Not even the question of how the hay did she get national security clearance as a foreign national?

Fears for humans - Scientists find substances but not the mechanism sickening cats and dogs
courtesy of The Oregonian

Cornell University toxicologist Joe Ebel peered last month at lines that crossed his computer screen, resembling hundreds of jagged mountains. […] Any one of the telltale peaks, Ebel knew, could identify the mysterious substance in wheat gluten imported from China that appeared to be killing cats and dogs, scaring pet owners, frustrating veterinarians and causing widespread product recalls.

Ebel, squinting through goggles, raced to find answers that could prevent further deaths and stop the unthinkable: contaminated food reaching U.S. dinner tables.

When a break finally came, Ebel stayed […]calm […]. There it was — a sharp spike depicting the same material Procter & Gamble Co. scientists had just implicated: melamine, an industrial chemical with no business in pet food.

Ebel and other scientists from New York to California asked how melamine — a substance made from ammonia and used in glues and laminate flooring — could cause acute renal failure, when chunks of it fed to dogs in one study merely made them urinate a lot.

It’s a question that still confounds U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials as they ask farmers to euthanize 6,000 hogs on farms that received tainted pet food.

It’s now a puzzle vexing scientists studying cyanuric acid. That substance has been found in stricken pets and by FDA investigators in rice protein concentrate at the same North Plains warehouse where melamine from China showed up.

Each day, members of the Cornell team, in Ithaca, N.Y., have discussed these questions with an expanding number of scientists across North America. They’ve searched for hundreds of potential culprits, helping rule out a rat poison, aminopterin, fingered by another New York lab. They still don’t know what led publicity-shy Procter & Gamble scientists to melamine.

>SNIP<

Now Ebel is pursuing another moving target in a hunt that moved closer to the human food chain with revelations April 19 that hogs ate contaminated pet food sold to farms as salvage. In Oregon, two pets became sick as recently as last week.

 * * * * * *  *

The Chicago Tribune reports that melamine, found in the tainted pet food, has been confirmed in human food.

The tainted pet food scare, which has swelled into a serious crisis for animal lovers, now has spread to humans.

California officials have revealed that the contamination got into the food chain: About 45 state residents ate pork from hogs that consumed animal feed laced with melamine from China. Melamine is used to make plastics, but it also artificially boosts the protein level—and thus the price—of the glutens that go into food.

It was already fatal for some pets: 17 cats and dogs are confirmed dead, more have likely died without being reported, thousands have suffered kidney problems, and 57 brands of cat food and 83 of dog food have been recalled. On top of that, roughly 6,000 hogs will be destroyed because they ate tainted feed.

The effects of melamine on people are thought to be minimal, but no one really knows. Its consumption by humans is considered so improbable that no one has even studied it.

But they are studying now. What last month was a limited recall of canned pet food is on the verge of becoming a full-fledged public health scare, potentially overwhelming government agencies and raising troubling questions about U.S. food safety in the global economy and in the post-Sept. 11 era.

As one of our readers , Mary Jane, points out…this part of the article stands out…

Other fixes could include expanded funding for food safety inspections and labs, the right to conduct spot inspections, subpoena power for the FDA and country-of-origin labeling on food products. Congress has already passed the labeling law, but the Bush administration has declined to implement it, citing cost concerns.

Here’s the entire article.

ACKKKKKKK!!

Unbelievable! It's time to stop buying from China - and any other nation - until we know their food inspection standards!

Read the bad news in the International Herald Tribune Asia-Pacific.

 
Edited to update on this article, 4/29/07.

Interestingly enough, the link to the story has been taken down from the Internatikonal Herald Tribune. Why?! and Who?!

From ThePetsitUSA.com website used under the FAIR USE ACT NOTICE.

Additive that tainted U.S. pet food is commonly used in China
By David Barboza and Alexei Barrionuevo
Published: April 29, 2007

ZHANGQIU, China: American food safety regulators trying to figure out how an industrial chemical called melamine contaminated so much pet food in the United States might come to this heavily polluted city in Shandong Province in the northern part of the country.

Here at the Shandong Mingshui Great Chemical Group factory, huge boiler vats are turning coal into melamine, which is used to create plastics and fertilizer.

But the leftover melamine scrap, small acorn-sized chunks of white rock, is then being sold to local entrepreneurs, who say they secretly mix a powdered form of the scrap into animal feed to artificially enhance the protein level.

The melamine powder has been dubbed “fake protein” and is used to deceive those who raise animals into thinking they are buying feed that provides higher nutrition value.

 >SNIP<

The huge pet food recall is raising questions in the United States about regulatory controls at a time when food supplies are increasingly being sourced globally. Some experts complain that the FDA is understaffed and underfunded, making it incapable of safeguarding America’s food supply.

In recent years, for instance, China’s food safety scandals have involved everything from fake baby milk formulas and soy sauce made from human hair, to instances where cuttlefish were soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color and eels were fed contraceptive pills to make them grow long and slim.

 >SNIP<

David Barboza reported from Zhangqiu and Alexei Barrionuevo reported from Chicago. Rujun Shen also contributed reporting.

From the International Herald Tribune. Note: The link did work earlier today at this link but the article has been moved. The new link will be posted as soon as I can find it.

* * * * * * * *  

Read the rest of the article at ThePetsitUSA.com blog.

You know it's getting bad when you feel the need to explain your actions and intentions to a room full of glowering eyes who want nothing further to do with you. Or your babe. But for those like World Bank Prez Paul Wolfowitz, who shows no sincere remorse, shame, or humiliation for pulling off the very shenanigans he's sworn to prevent, and ignores colleagues who recommend stepping down for the good of the company morale, well, it's got to be a slam dunk and no sweat, right?

Graeme Wheeler , World Bank managing director actually told Paul Wolfowitz to quit in front of all the bank's top officials. (Sound familiar? Gonza was told to resign during congressional hearing, right? He, too, refused.)

Wolfowitz has clashed many times with the World Bank staff over hiring 2 aides he brought with him from the White house who were given senior positions at the bank, were grossly over-paid, tax-free salaries, for doing jobs outside their expertise.

Apparently Wolfowitz has dug in his heels and refuses to quit even knowing that many of his staff dislike him, more so for the special treatment he's bestowed upon his live-in girlfriend, Shaha Riza. Apparently he's done a number of things for her and his aides that clearly violate World Bank rules.

Last but not least, an opinion piece by Sidney Blumenthal brings up the real crux of the matter about Wolfowitz's galfriend that I'm most interested in and that's how did she get her security clearance? She's not a US citizen; she's a foreign national, and had to be cleared to work in the State Department. Blumenthal writes, "Granting a foreign national who is detailed from an international organization a security clearance, however, is extraordinary, even unprecedented. So how could this clearance have been granted?" Apparently, while working with Vice President's daughter Elizabeth Cheney at the State Department, she needed a national security clearance to get into the building or permanent escort by a person with a clearance. She enjoyed unescorted access. Interesting that the State Department believes Riza was issued a security clearance by the DoD after SAIC was forced by Wolfowitz et al. to hire her. There's lots of questions coming from the State Department on this because they don't have any of the security clearance letters needed and "officials stress that the department would never issue a clearance to a non-US citizen as part of a contractual requisition." !?!?! Furthermore, Blumenthal's opinion piece goes on to state that "issuing a national security clearance to a foreign national under instructions from a Pentagon official would constitute a violation of the executive orders governing clearances." Blumenthal suggests that the DoD should be ordered to investigate how Riza was issued a security clearance from the Pentagon and who was behind the building pass at the State Department.  In other articles found on the 'net, some writers even go so far as to question her allegience and wonder if perhaps she's a Mata Hari type ;>

After reading all the sourced articles and information on this matter, I've come to the conclusion that Wolfowitz has joined the ranks of other neoCONs who have gone the Gonza route -

The wittle wolf-skunk says:

Na-na-na-na-na-NAH! Neener, neener! Sowwy, I not quitting eiver. Git over it aready.

I'm urging my friends and readers to please better acquaint yourself with the following links to the FDA website where you may be shocked to see so many food recalls and drug adverse reactions coming from a Federal Agency responsible for our food and drug safety.  There are many recalls that never see the light of day (TV, newsprint, airwaves) and I have to wonder Why?!   We're paying these clowns to serve us.  That is what our taxes are meant to go towards, for our better good.

General Recalls

Drug Labeling Warnings and Additional Information

Medication Errors

Drugs To Be Discontinued  

Enforcement Report [contains details on recalls I found more helpful] 

Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-t h-th-that's all, folks!  

Sigh. Now AG Alberto Gonzales refuses to step down, even after he admitted "honest mistakes" and had been "less than precise with my words when discussing the resignations." His congressional testimony under oath was painful in that he didn't know or recall much or wasn't involved. He reminded me of a head of broccoli sitting in a chair. Yes. He was that impressive. But, hey, hey, hey! He 'fessed up to his mistakes and telling lies, right?!

Geezes. I hope this isn't going to be another one of those If-You-Say-You-Sowwy-You- Can-Stay (and-Play) deals. It doesn't engender trust for Americans and make the Apologizer no better than a skunk passing as a cat. It's really time for grown men, who pull the wool over the American Public Eye to STEP DOWN, RESIGN, BE A MAN, TAKE YOUR LUMPS, TAKE YOUR TOYS AND GO HOME!

'Nuff said. *hurumph*

The wittle skunk says: I sowwy, aready. Get over it.

Mike Adams of NewsTarget.com , writes an article at the Organic Consumers Association blog on the FDA's shenanigans (scroll down on site for relevant FDA news) concerning the regulation of supplements, essential oils, homeopathic medicine and other "complementary" and "alternative" therapies. The FDA intends to regulate and kill the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) industry. Adams basically pleads for people to post their comments about this on the FDA site.  The FDA closes comments from the general public on April 30, 2007. Please look at the Action Items to see how you can help.

 
"When it comes to health freedom, this is the FDA's end game. A new FDA "guidance" document, published on the FDA's website, reveals plans to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval. The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480. Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration.

"The FDA is accepting public comments on the docket until April 30th. They tried to sneak this under the radar, but word got out and now the natural health community is up in arms over this rule. If you wish to protect your access to nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathic medicine or any other "complementary" or "alternative" modality, it is crucial that you take action to post your comments with the FDA right now and write your representatives in Washington to put a stop to this outrageous effort to destroy natural medicine. (And be sure to really write them. Just sending an email has virtually no impact compared to writing a physical letter in your own words.)" [emphasis mine] As written by Mike Adams.

Post your comment at the FDA site here.

Link to PDF copy of document in question here. 

Link to Jon Barron's Baseline of Health blog here .  Pay special attention to the 5th comment on Jon's blog by Linda Nedderman-Eaton, of April 12th, as she makes some very important points regarding the schemes the FDA is up to :)

Let me just say up front that this story tore me up.  The pictures are seriously hard-hitting punch to the solar plexus, so beware!  Regardless of your stance on the war or global war on terror (GWOT), it's reprehensible, in my view, to use weapons that will affect generations of a People.  It's just evil.  As many of us have seen over the years, one's enemy can become your allay over the years, but there's no chance of this ever happening in Iraq due to the constant reminder of what we are doing to their children. 

This has got to stop and my representatives on the Hill will hear me roar starting tomorrow.  Can you imagine a parent seeing these babies for the first time?  

God help us! 

If you dare - beware! 

How Close Was Tainted Wheat To Human Food?
CBS
April 12, 2007

excerpt

"Wheat gluten is added to foods like bread, pasta and rice. While the public was focused on the danger to their pets, sources tell CBS News that the FDA had tracked at least one suspect batch of wheat gluten into the human food supply, quietly quarantined some products and notified the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention to watch for new patients admitted to hospitals with renal or kidney failure. "

Rest of the story here . 

The Miscarriage of Justice Against Former Congressman James Traficant

William Wallace
May, 2006

A. Overview As a result of the .Department of .Justice's (".DOJ") flagrant and obvious program of lies, perjury and manufactured false "evidence" against former Congressman Jim Traficant ("Traficant"), many people have asked how they can help to correct this miscarriage of justice.

The opportunity is now. The method includes the Internet and the national talk radio shows that expose government corruption, e.g., The Drudge Report, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy, Oliver North and Greta Von Susteren at Fox News.

Traficant stood for the people. He was a major threat to the shadow government which runs the .DOJ and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and had to be discredited and taken out before his citizen
friendly bills, which included an overhaul of the .DOJ, could be passed.

This report will be limited to prosecutorial misconduct to "bribe witnesses for testimony," which under "treaty-standards&qu ot; set by the Supreme Court in Missouri v. Holland, (1920) 252 US 416, rose
to "acts of corruption" that violated the 1996 Inter-American Convention Against Corruption ("Corruption Convention"), 35 I.L.M. 724. This self-executing treaty bound all .Federal officers, including prosecutors, to their terms. Executive Order ("E.O.") 13107 commanded their compliance,
as this treaty made the offering or accepting of "a thing of value for testimony" a crime under the anti-bribery and graft statutes. (See 18 U.S.C. '' 201(c)(2) to 224)

The prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") Craig Morford was proscribed from pressuring, intimidating and bribing witnesses for false testimony which also violated the obstruction of justice and witness-tampering statutes that served the Corruption Convention.
(See 18 U.S.C. '' 1503, 1512)

To support and prove Traficant's allegations, he has audio tapes and affidavits available on almost all witnesses against him, all affirming they were coerced and intimidated to lie against him under extreme duress from the .DOJ. Traficant demonstrated uncanny insight into preserving his evidence by placing it in the Congressional Record during the months of May, June, July and August 2002. It is waiting for investigators to dig out and prove this miscarriage of justice.

Edited on 4/11/07 to make clear the bolded & italicized emphasis throughout the item is mine [with the exception of the initial emphasis of A. Overview]. - PuC. 

To read the rest of this astonishing exculpatory evidence, please go to the Congressman Jim Traficant - Can & Will site. It is truly a marvel this man is still imprisoned. Go read for yourself why he had to be silenced and make up your own mind about this miscarriage of justice, indeed.

I've been enjoying a program on C-SPAN 3 entitled "First Amendment in Schools" hosted by Charles C. Haynes and Frank Bond . The audience consists of students. The program is centered on teaching our children about democracy and freedom. Mr. Haynes believes schools should recover its previous civic mission. He says we can tell the degree to which we've lost our civil liberties by studying what's going on in our schools, because schools reflect society as a whole. The hosts believe we need to insist on our schools to teach freedom and democracy while practicing it. They don't believe in having armed guards or politically correct policies in schools. Mr. Haynes says schools are "messy" in that kids will say and do things that are not politically correct but this is what freedom and democracy means - speaking freely.

If you, gentle readers, agree with their premise that school children need to be taught freedom, freedom of speech and democracy in our schools, won't you please hop over to the First Amendment Center , take a look around, take what you need, leave the rest, but by all means start talking to your children about freedom and democracy and the fact that its their heritage and what's being practiced in our country now in the name of national security will oppress them, not free them to practice their own individuality. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!

Getting to the Bottom of Some Defective Boots
as written by George Gombossy: Consumer Watchdog
courtesy of The Hartford Courant.com

Getting To The Bottom Of Some Defective Boots

March 30, 2007

"When Greg Dowd was growing up, there were only two brands of work boots he would buy: Timberland and Herman Survivors. Usually he bought the Timberland because they were cheaper, but both were great for hunting, working the farms or building houses.

Last year he went to Wal-Mart in North Windham and bought a pair of the Survivors, expecting to be wearing inexpensive but comfortable, safe and well-made boots.

Despite taking good care of the boots, which cost about $49, Dowd soon started noticing chunks of the soles breaking off. He figured it was simply a defective pair and thought he could just take it back to the store and get another.

Dowd, 49, of Mansfield, was about to learn a little about the largest company in the world and how he is affected by the global economy."

For the rest of the story, go here .

What is so delicious about this story is some of the comments to this article, like "Thank God for duct tape" and the one where a poster asks what Greg Dowd expects for $49. (Meaning: the jerk!)

HA! I'd venture to say, he probably expects the boots, a carton of cigarettes, a pint of Jack Daniels, rent-free condo, a hot meal at the Ritz, nail clippers, hair cut, bandana, and a twinkie. What a clown.

I'd also venture to say, he has good intentions and wants the world to know about the crappy boots from China. And the former nostalgic, iconic, ever-lasting Herman Survivors of his youth. sigh

Oh, good Lord, look down upon us with pity. We are totally screwing up your magnificent masterpiece. We don't know whether to blame Olde Man Sun a wee bit, to allay our own guilt, but we're happy to leave it all up to Thee. You know, let You sort us out. Amen.

Even though there's evidence that solar activity affects our weather, through studies offered by Paul La Violette's 1983 Ph.D. dissertation "Galactic Explosions, Cosmic Dust Invasions, and Climate Change ," the Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP), and Dr. Walther N. Spjeldvik's abstract "New Evidence of Space Weather Impact on the Terrestrial Weather and Climate in the Earth's Southern Hemisphere ," the global alarmists would rather have all this calamity be placed squarely on the heads of us Hot Airbags.

We now learn from MIT's Professor of Atmospheric Science Richard Lindzen, who's a past UN Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) contributor, that there were only 12 scientists involved in writing the UN's 2001 Assessment Report. If you remember, this IPCC report was sexed up to purport thousands of scientists had signed off on it. Lindzen had a one-on-one with Bill Nye, PBS TV's 'Science Guy' on CNN's Larry King Live, that was a spicy meatball for bland dieters. It ought to quell some of the hype over global warming, but somehow I doubt it.

You know things are heating up (pun intended :) when a senator, in this case, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), the outgoing Chairman of Environment & Public Works Committee comes out with a Senate Committee booklet entitled "A Skeptic's Guide to Debunking Global Warming Alarmism: Hot & Cold Media Spin Cycle: A Challenge To Journalists who Cover Global Warming." If you send for the Skeptic's Guide booklet, they'll throw in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for free!  (Just Kidding!)

How many of you heard about the "Scientific Smackdown: Skeptics Voted the Clear Winners Against Global Warming Believers in Heated NYC Debate "?

In case you missed it, Senator Inhofe is now blogging - catch The Inhofe EPW Press Blog here.

NOW THE INTERESTING OMISSION to the global warming frenz debate is the barely advertised shenanigans of our Illustrious Leaders in the form of a US Senate Bill 517 and US House Bill 2995 , that would allow experimental weather modification by artificial means. They also plan to put in place a national weather modification policy. Hold on, it gets better! The bill doesn't include agricultural, water, EPA, public representatives and no provisions for Congressional, State, County, or public oversight of their actions or expenditures. Whoa, you say.

There are current weather modification programs (80 listed by NOAA in 2005), one of which is designed to increase snowpack in Wyoming that may be diverting rainwater away from Oklahoma and Texas. Besides the modification programs listed by NOAA, there's private and .government-sponsored atmospheric and heating programs (H.A.A.R.P. - you know, the program that doesn't exist). None of these programs are regulated and no one knows the unintended consequences they may bring (super hurricanes?). However, it seems NASA may know something. In a 2005 NASA newsletter they wrote "the increasing persistent contrails are "...trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.." Hmmmm.. ;>

Let me make it perfectly clear that according to the 'United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72, TIAS 9614 Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques ' of 1976, forbids weather control/weather tampering. Signed, sealed [ratified] and delivered by the US President in 1980.

Because our present Illustrious Leaders have been doing things under the table for quite awhile and at our expense, it wouldn't surprise me in the least that many experimental weather modification/manipulation programs have been going on for quite a while, and may well be the real cause of the bizarre weather since 2002.

Just some food for thought.

Can we believe anything anymore?! 

Another Gorilla-tactic arrest of a kid.  This time, it's a 13 year old Dyker Heights Intermediate School student.  On March 30th, Chelsea Fraser was handcuffed and placed under arrest in front of her classmates after she scribbled the word "okay" on her desk.   Yes.  You read that right.   This is what members of the NYPD 68th Precinct are doing when they're not cramming bananas in their mouths.    Chelsea Fraser was charged with  "criminal mischief and the making of graffiti."   For writing  one word on her desk.  Perhaps the Principal of Dyker Heights Intermediate School can be charged with "anencephalic neandrathal impersonating unprincipled principal" and the NYPD arresting officer can be charged with "asinine judgment on the part of an immature man-child impersonating a police officer" for starters.  Good gawd, where did the common sense gene run off to?!  Oh, wait a minute!  I forgot,.. it's in the Interrogation Room!  Shackled to the wall.  Charged with "being logical while exhibiting 'heart' in chest cavity'.  Silly me!

These KIDARRESTS reveal a pathology of extremism that is spreading throughout our country.   Common sense says the punishment should fit the crime.   The crime was writing on a desk and the punishment should have been a stern admonishment by the teacher along with a wet sponge and some soap and a Get-With-IT!  But nooooo, the adults (questionable) have to bring out the cannon when a pop-gun would do.  It's as though the word from the top has been 'make an example out of every example of infraction, but with extreme prejudice and/or force'.  It's as though kids are not allowed to be kids anymore.  And adults are no longer expected to use time-worn principles of correcting bad behavior.  There's no middle ground anymore. 

We see so many young kids and teenagers engaging in more serious crimes and we wonder why that is.  Well, if kids can't be kids and are arrested for small-potatoes mischief like kissing a classmate on the cheek, or pointing a finger and saying 'bang', deprived of partaking in recess and childhood games, we shouldn't be surprised to see them emulating the adults they see every  day in the streets and on the  devilTV.  Kids copy the actions of adults around them, but if they aren't allowed to be kids, then they are forced to be adults, only littler, more loud, and more out-of-control. 

It's our society's penchant for political correction that's turning our kids into psychopaths by replacing critical thinking with high drama, viz emotionalism.  

I mean, let's get real here - handcuffing  and arresting a 13 year old girl for writing "okay" on her desk - in Brooklyn?!?  What!?   If I'm not mistaken, she found room for a word on a desk that's probably already covered with doodles and scribblings?!?

Man!  We "adults" have coitainly turned into some outrageous, frickin' out-of-control  control freaks! 

(/rant) 

Not a black and white issue
as written by Stefanie Williams, U. of Maryland; she can be reached at: swills25@umd.edu
courtesy of Diamondbackonline.com

"Trust me when I say this story is more newsworthy than the Natalie Holloway case, the Duke lacrosse scandal and Anna Nicole Smith combined. A young couple, students from the University of Tennessee, were victims of a carjacking and were kidnapped, raped, tortured and eventually murdered by five people. Descriptions of their deaths were so brutal that I had to read them several times to fully process the implications.

"Newsom was kidnapped, raped and beaten. According to reports, his penis was then cut off before he was shot several times and set on fire, all while his girlfriend watched. His body was then dumped alongside train tracks. Christian was kept alive and gang-raped multiple times over a span of four days. Her breast was cut off while she was still alive and her kidnappers sprayed cleaning fluid into her mouth to cleanse it of DNA. Her body was then put into a garbage can.

"This should have been front- page, prime time news. There is speculation that because all five of the arrested kidnappers were black, and the couple white, this story was swept under the rug. Whatever the case, instead of this legitimate news story, I have been spoon-fed pointless stories about Anna Nicole Smith and the innumerable men she slept with."

Also covered by Michael Gaynor at RenewAmerica here .

*******
Kudos to Stefanie Williams for her coverage of this horrific, sadistic, diabolical and heinous crime, and to every one of its kind that has gone unreported. FOR SHAME! [PuC]

Edited 4/6/07 to correct Michael Gaynor's affiliation with RenewAmerica for this article. 

What I find most interesting about this pet food contamination is this:  the FDA is saying they found melamine in the wheat gluten and that the FDA has failed to find any evidence of "aminopterin" (rat poison, cancer drug) in the wheat gluten.  On March 23, 2007, ABC News reported that "aminopterin" was the chemical linked to the pet food contamination. This link was confirmed by the New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Dr. Donald Smith, Dean of Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine, both statements released on the same day.

Now, the Animal Poison Control Center raised doubts that the problems may not be totally understood because the clinical signs reported on the cats affected by the tainted food are not fully consistent with "aminopterin" ingestion.  Hmm.. 

Wikipedia is doing a superb up-to-the-minute chronicling of the whole Menu Foods recall including all the players;  info on Aminopterin and the main actors .

This much we know, it all began "on March 16, 2007, when the Associated Press reported that Menu Foods Limited was recalling dog food sold under 53 brands and cat food under 42 brands, after an unknown number of animals suffered kidney failure from tainted food."  Apparently the FDA is concentrating on wheat gluten imported from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology [my emphasis] Development Co. Ltd., a Chinese research and export firm. You might be wondering what a biologic technology research firm is doing making wheat gluten, as I surely did, initially.  [red flag #1]  We also know that this wheat gluten was shipped to Menu Foods Limited but it was also shipped to a second unnamed* manufacturer of dry pet foods. [red flag #2]  You might be wondering why this outfit remains "unnamed" as I surely did, while names of every other firm involved is bandied about freely.   We also know there are conflicting reports of what this wheat gluten is contaminated with; it's either melamine or aminopterin, right?  [red flag #3]

*some are suggesting Archer Daniels Midland 

Potential bad news - by a thousand cuts - reaches the public that the tainted wheat gluten that's been striking down and killing our pets has also been found in processing plants that prepare food for human consumption.  Well, riddle me the following ridiculous statement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

"While agency leaders offered assurances Monday that the U.S. food supply remains safe, they said they cannot yet completely rule out contamination of human food by the suspect wheat gluten, which contained melamine, a chemical found in plastics and pesticides."

Well, that does it!  You can be sure that I'm thoroughly assured by my .gov FDA agency when it tells me my food is safe.  Excuse me for a sec. <hysterical laughter>  Now read the oxymoronic quote above once more, only s-l-o-w-l-y.   What did it say?! In one full swoop, the FDA tells me my food is safe even though it may be riddled with chemicals and pesticides that has killed my beloved pet.   Excuse me for a sec. <hysterical laughter>

Now, the import records tell the story that the tainted wheat gluten was shipped to the U.S. from China to an undisclosed supplier in the U.S. who sold it to Menu Foods.  Apparently the vst majority of the wheat gluten went to the pet food manufacturers, but some of the plants under agency scrutiny make foods for both humans and pets.  Here's a cute one from Dorothy Miller who's the Director of the FDA's Office of Emergency Operations"

"To date we have nothing that indicates it's gone into human food.  We have a bit more investigation to do."

But, hey, hey!  She could have just as well said, "To date we have nothing that indicates it hasn't gone into human food."  BECAUSE, "We have a bit more investigation to do."  [..and besides, it's so much fun to deal death by a thousand cuts, tee hee.]   :(     ;
This is also covered by CNN here .

INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, the FDA's emphasis on melamine contamination was contested by the New York State Food Laboratory who tested the wheat gluten and announced that it had identified aminopterin, a rat poison, on March 23.   Jessica Chittenden, spokeswoman for New York State Dept. of Agriculture and Markets said that melamine is not known to be toxic, and, "We are confident we found aminopterin, and it makes sense with the pathology," as reported by Brenda Goodman of the New York Times.

Also Monday, Eight In One Inc., a division of United Pet Group Inc., announced the unrelated recall of all Dingo brand Chick'n Jerky treats for dogs, cats and ferrets. The treats are being recalled because they may be contaminated with salmonella, the company said. They were sold at Target, PetSmart and other stores.

CNN just had report from petconnection .com that there have been over 9092 self reported deaths of cats & dogs from contaminated food!   CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewed Christie Keith who wrote an article earlier today on the pet food crisis.  She is a contributing writer on the PetConnection.com webiste.   PetConnection also provides the following lists:

The Pet Food Tracker that lists recalled pet food

The Pet Food List that tracks pet food that has NOT been recalled.

My heart goes out to anyone who has a pet affected by eating tainted pet food. 

The FDA has on their site FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WinCo Foods has voluntarily recalled several BREAD products under CASCADE PRIDE label and sold at its WinCo Foods stores in CALIFORNIA and NEVADA. WinCo Foods by SAFEWAY, INC. may contain wire fragments from production machinery. This recall DOES NOT AFFECT WinCo Foods stores in WASHINGTON, OREGON, or IDAHO.  (Note: This is a back-dated alert which may still be relevant.)

FDA - U.S. Food and Drug Administration website here .

FDA Product ALERT LIST link. 

Good to have on hand, no?

Edited to include the FDA's Alert List link.