Another day in the Muggg

As usual for July, the NH Seacoast is not overwarm and beastly humid.  But we tell ourselves we like it this way, so that the weather will change sooner to something less attractive, like thunderstorms with hail and the occasional funnel cloud.  Dropped off H to the theater camp she's attending and decided to treat R to that new "Seventeen" magazine she's been wanting so badly for the past forty minutes or so.  I also wanted to check in and see if some of my recent reading signals a trend in the book scene (my wishful thinking.)

I've been reading Francis Fukuyama's book, "The Origins of Political Order."  Fukuyama's the guy who wrote "The End of History and The Last Man" in the 1990's which many read as undergrads.  This book discusses his idea that some parts of our history make us more or less willing or able to accept the capitalist liberal democracy that has been spreading all over the world (with some notable exceptions).  If the theories are correct there is a lot to re-think.  Doing so will be hard, requiring scrutiny of within as without.  I'm grateful F.F. had the courage to have this published.  It's a hell of a book.

Anyway, so I figured it's been a few months since this book came out, what else is happening? Looking at the political reading section I found that little had changed - there were several books warning about how the Liberal movement is a surrogate for Socialism, and will rise up to take over the government.  Many books by different people from Fox News, with titles like "I can see Socialism from Here" and "Obama Is A Spy for China" and "If you're not with us, you're Agin' Us" ... in other words, the usual "modern commentary."

There, in the middle of it all, Was F.F.'s new release, seeming completely out of place

There appeared to be no one thinking about Globalist democracy along the lines of "maybe we should re-think this thing.  It's not going so well everywhere, and it's getting tiresome to keep offering the same carrot, and the stick's already been broken twice."

So I slunk along into the Social/Cultural section, disappointed, looking for something to distract and amuse (as we're taught to do, as shoppers)   I chanced on a David Brooks book:  "Bobos In Paradise" or The New Upper Class and How They Got There.  Perfect!  I thought.  I can read about these strange beings, whose lives I see illustrated in the New Yorker, and perhaps some of the magic dust will rub off, and either bless me, or kill me.  Either way, I figured I would enjoy the time between midterms this season a bit more.

Arriving home, I found R. right where I expected, in front of the telly.  She looked up and saw her magazine in my hand.  One of those 'oh my goodness he actually got the one I wanted!' looks was issued forth.  I had not failed, and because of this my study period (the rest of the day, really) will be a little more peaceful.

Michele Bachmann's Rise Has Conservatives Bullish About Taking On Obama

Thanks to HuffPo & Jon Ward for providing a measured look at the folks who show up for conservati­ve GOP flavored political events. Good job.



That said, it seems the power behind this movement - which is not and has never been anything but big money - has worked really hard to produce people who look folksy, act as if they don't know anything (so those who actually listen can identify) and deliberate­ly mis-speak, so that anyone who had tune them out before has to tune right back in again.



Funny, this is the way Howard Stern grew his audience when he started at NBC in NYC, according to "Private Parts." Perhaps that's why it is so effective?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Economists Tell the Masses: "It Could Have Been Worse"

Dean Baker wrote in Huffington Post this afternoon, in his article Economists Tell the Masses: 'It Could Have Been Worse':

It is amazing that angry mobs have not risen up and chased all the economists out of the country. While the greed of the Wall Street gang provided the fuel for the bubble, the economists played an essential role as enablers.  This was most directly true for economists in policymaking positions, like Alan Greenspan at the Fed.   There are thousands of macroeconomists across the country, in government, academia and private industry who track the economy as a full-time job... [Yet] you can count on your fingers the number of economists who raised warnings about the housing bubble. The rest either did not see it, or didn't think it worth mentioning.Remarkably, no economists seem to have lost their jobs for this failing.
Unlike dishwashers and custodians, economists are not held accountable for the quality of their work.

Mr. Baker, great article. I find your comments absolutely reasonable, and wish that many more people took the time to point out fallacious reasoning that is so potentially misleading.

But the expectation of American to rise up and chase the economists? Maybe the ones on American Idol, if there are any. As a people Americans aren't really active when it comes to chasing after folks who've fooled them, over and over and over again. Or for that matter, chasing anyone else.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Obama Drug Policy Focuses On Prevention, Treatment

The comments of the Drug Policy Alliance's Ethan Nadelmann are understandable and cheered by those of us for whom the War on Drugs has been too costly for too long.



It will be up to Nadelmann as well as POTUS and the rest of us to maintain our voices and attention on this issue. The War on Drugs created it's own "Military-Industrial Complex," which include the Corrections Corporation of America; the GEO Group, Inc,; Cornell Companies; Mid-Atlantic Youth Services Corp, and Community Education Centers. Phil Smith notes in his article on the subject that "Private prisons are a symptom, a response by private capital to the "opportunities" created by society's temper tantrum approach to the problem of criminality." [see: http://mediafilter.org/mff/prison.html ]



These companies find support with our politicians through groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, an EXTREMELY effective and vocal advocate [see People for the American Way web page at http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/american-legislative-exchange, and this side dedicated to ALEC: http://www.alecwatch.org/ ] The private prison industry is also a substantial employer and is able to work through unions as well as through national organizations like The Fraternal Order of Police.



In short, this is a multi-billion dollar industry which won't die quietly, and the people whose self interest it serves will be coming hard and fast.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Might be a Good Time for some Fresh Strong Tea

Here is a party-making moment for the Taxed Enough Already folks: There are a lot of people out there who are disenfranchised, feeling left behind, whatever you want to call it.

Opryland, Boston Common, The Mall in Washington - when it was all over, the News organizations, and the politicians that exhorted protest and "sending Washington a message" were the same ones calling participants "rabble rousing, somewhat seditious folk"

Now that the GOP has made chumps out of the party, and it's become pretty clear they were never going to get support anyway, how will the Tea Party folks roll? Do they have what it takes to get down at the grassroots level and build a party to participate on a national level - a third party?

Or will they hang on at the margin, like some Bonus Army camped out in Washington? That's where the GOP would like to keep them, sucking up news cycles as they further their agenda in the background.  Anything that keeps the light off them is a good thing for the GOP right now.  Not that they'll thank the Tea Party folk.

I know this doesn't come across as kind.  Frank talk as this sounds more than a litte rude.  Significant moments, when decisions with lasting effects are made, don't come often.  This might be such a time.

People who know me will tell you I did not think the idea of protesting ad hoc, showing emotion in demonstrations was helpful or smart.  The idea of Taxed Enough Already wasn't one I was close to, because I couldn't connect the dots, from protest to changes.

Tonight I saw primary returns come in with GOP establishment candidates leaving few spots uncovered.  It was clear the Tea Party was created to benefit the GOP exclusively - no change to the system, status quo OK thanks very much. 

At the same time the Democrats, rather than press for transparency at the Fed or for regulating the size of too-big-to-fail banks, elect a "hands off" approach to the out-of-control banking system.  Truth to tell the banks have too great a control. It is the congress, and the people, who have lost it. And neither party seems inclined to do anything to address the wealth and power imbalance that continues to favor a very few.

Could there be anything good in all of this?  Perhaps.  I'm thinking this might be an excellent time to organize a political movement for the longer term. A movement with patience and vision; that doesn't shout or yell or take cues from news organizations. This could be the time when quiet resolve, the stuff no one pays attention to, can enter, and begin to speak - quietly and clearly - to and for the American People.

This time, instead of taking cues from one or another special interest, looking at all of our neighbors would be more helpful.  Recognizing that we are all (except the Native Americans) settlers here.  That at some point in the future we will all be gone from here, regardless of where we came from. 

We're not getting any younger.  Clock's ticking.

Peace.

The Brighter the Light, The Stronger The Shadows

The news of the video and story distributed by Wikileaks continues to percolate into the national conversation, including the Christian Science Monitor. Their coverage is concerned with contrasting the story the US Military told Reuters in 2007, with the account told by the video tape. [spoiler alert: there are differences - significant ones]

Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com has been following the story since 06:00 this morning and has posted several updates. He is pretty rough on the slant of publishers such as Mediaite.com (where my original post emanated from) who shoot the messenger for slandering the troops and/or making much of an aberration.

Greenwald also takes the time to flesh out the point that the callous and/or sadistic satisfaction shown by the soldiers shouldn't surprise anyone - they are a product of their training. When we accept that the training process has changed them in this way, it's easier to understand them under these circumstances. It may also help understand the source of the changes we as family members may see in them, when they return home. As Greenwald puts it,

If you take even well-intentioned, young soldiers and stick them in the middle of a dangerous war zone for years and train them to think and act this way, this will inevitably be the result. The video is an indictment of the U.S. government and the war policies it pursues.

He closes his original post with the statement:

The value of the Wikileaks/Iraq video and the Afghanistan revelation is not that they exposed unusually horrific events. The value is in realizing that these events are anything but unusual.

If facets of military training impair a soldier's longterm moral compass when he or she is exposed to trauma, that soldier is being served poorly by a country they are sworn to defend.    I think we - that's us - you; me; the bank teller; the grocer; the school teacher... need to advance the need for a thoughtful conversation about this, until improvements are made.    It is the least we can do in support of our children, our brothers, sisters, wives and husbands who serve in the military.

Leak as Learning Opportunity

Today, Easter Monday, I returned home from my extended family in New York.  The sun was warm on a calm afternoon with a gentle breeze.  I ate watermelon ice cream with my two girls in our driveway after the four hour drive, happy to be home and alive on a beautiful Spring day.   I came up to my office and began looking through my incoming messages, to see ‘what’s behind door numbers one two and three,’ or in other words find out what’s new and exciting in the technosphere.  I was surprised and saddened to find the item below, from a site called Mediaite.com:

“In the past few weeks, the Pentagon has been waging battle on a whole new front: classified information that ends up on the Internet…In the following video, US Military in an Apache helicopter gravely mistake a group of Iraqi men for insurgents (what appears to be a camera is viewed by those in the helicopter to be a RPG.) Warning, the video below is graphic in nature.”

Mediaite labeled Wikileaks as the problem and its target in the article.  I’m really not sure why.  Wikileaks’ ‘…primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but … also expect[s] to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations.” 

I did not bring a dog to the fight between Wikileaks and anyone else; as a group it appears to have released information that matches its stated goal of exposing unethical behavior.  The most important thing in my humble view is that the story is out there, and maybe now we can discuss how to prevent the recurrence of such an incident.  The costs of this outcome are substantial, and long-lasting.  Perhaps the outcomes should be considered the (quoting Mediaite again) ‘…real threat to national security…’  

·        Our troops are killing non-combatants, and it’s being covered up.  There’s a good chance if the event is whitewashed, the effects on those troops is likely to be ‘unseen’ by military management, as well.  Threat to us:  more emotional problems, suicides, dislocation in military families, occurrences of substance abuse.

·        Our actions show we no longer recognize medical evacuation as part of the ‘rules of combatant engagement.’  The video and audio show the attack team is given permission to continue shooting at people who have been wounded, and are crawling away.  Threat to us:  If the hors de combat designation of the Geneva Convention won’t be honored by one side, there’s no incentive for the opposing side to do so.

The threat to the country’s security was exposed by Wikileaks when it published the story.  The man or woman behind the gun should not have to live with responsibility for the deaths of non-combatants, especially for shooting wounded.  Particularly, when the persons they’re shooting do not shoot back.  This ‘real threat’ remains, until the procedures our troops follow are changed.  Expediency can carry the day, but will serve our troops poorly.  

If the Military does not change those procedures to make the job safer for the soldier (and in the process for others) then the Military can only blame itself, or try and shoot the messenger, over the result.

Bubble, Bubble, Toil & Trouble...

Fed,Maiden Lane

[ Note: In January of this year, Robert Reich moved to a new Blog space to continue gathering his articles from here and there. Since he writes often this is a great way to keep up without the usual stream of celebrity sightings, tea party pot shots, and pharmaceutical adverts which are now ...pretty much everywhere. Thank you, Mr. R., for your distraction-free pages.]

 

Chesterton said, "I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean." In his article "The Fed In Hot Water," Mr. Reich covers the Fed's recent disclosure that it assumed tens of billions of dollars of debt from investment banks, which the government now has full responsibility for. And did so quite a while before being authorized to do so by the Congress - as a unilateral decision.

 

Not completely new news; we knew the Fed was acting in a crisis mode to help support the economy, but the ‘new’ message is disclosure of how much money was paid and what it paid for - something the American people have been asking for quite a while. Some people are likely to be pretty ticked off to find out that the government covered debt assumed to buy out Hilton Hotel properties. Outraged may be an appropriate description for some.

 

But for many, this is TMI - too much information - to take in.  There's too much other 'stuff' in the main dialog, which already competes with stuff in our personal dialogs.  Examples:

• There aren't jobs enough for everyone, and jobs held feel less secure than ever.
• The cost of fruits - fresh, canned and frozen - is increasing as are staples and meats.  And gasoline.
• We have elected figures being called 'Nigger,' 'Faggot,' 'baby killer,' and 'Homo Communist' - by other Americans, and other elected officials. The senate and congress men and women, the people who speak for us, appear to accept this behavior.. 
• Information about our armed combat forces, our family members, in Afghanistan and Iraq is very sparse.  There’s no information at all about our forces in Japan, Bosnia, and South Korea.
• 'Celebrities' - Tiger Woods, Jesse James, and Michael Jackson - are 'above the fold' news.
• The weather is crazy, flooding some areas and causing draught in others.

I wonder if at times Mr. Reich must feel like Cassandra.

The Goog Expands Its DocVerse

Cloud,Microsoft,Google,Office

It was announced Sunday that The Goog bought DocVerse, and the blogosphere is rumbling again about "the Microsoft challenger," "the desperate competition" and similar drivel.  If I sound jaded, I'll plead guilty; I've been me sidelined from life with health issues and my attention has been almost exclusively Google's since about mid-February.

This acquisition is significant for a couple of reasons.

First, DocVerse will give Office users who produce content in teams (locally or in networked environments) a way to move toward a 'Cloud Collaboration' work model.  This puts Google first in a space which Microsoft stated would be their major objective for 2010.

Second, the DocVerse tools give people a practical means of visualizing what Google Wave - a possible future standard of e-mail - is all about.

DocVerse is a package of plug-ins which a user installs on his or her personal computer, associated with the Microsoft Office applications.  When a .XLS, .PPT or .DOC file is created or opened, the user can share the file with other people they identify; the file is synchronized to a web-based version stored in a web cloud.  When a change is made to the local copy and saved, the changes update the cloud copy.  A group of people can work in one file simultaneously; comments, changes and change history are rippled out from the cloud server as each user saves their changes.

Users can start to work online on current common tasks, such as preparing status reports requiring multiple inputs.  As an early threshold of usability is achieved, use of cloud collaboration will grow. Work-process folks will begin to look at when a team member participates in a workflow as a new focus for optimization;  work flow analyses will document improvements on how tasks may be done, improving overall data quality and time to completion.


Once teams of users work collaboratively with Office documents, the concept of an e-mail program with similar functionality will seem natural.  The impression of inviting users to collaborate on a document and interact through the document to it's completion, will gel in the user's mind and probably change how we look at e-mail going forward.

iPad -- Evolution or Revolution?

This entry is a 'kinder, gentler' version of a response I posted to the article captioned below.  Thankfully, the Huffington Post's auto-editor noticed that my submission wasn't as coherent as it should have been, and the piece was not posted beneath the article.  This is a better-collected group of thoughts on the idea of electronic publishing than I could ever have dashed off, and I will cop to the fact I shouldn't have posted a response without better clarity of thought.  If that sounds like an apology, so be it...

I love to read.  I will read just about anything - it's a pleasure to receive someone's message, which may be seconds, or centuries old.  Hearing the words in my head (sometimes, out loud) as I read is a pleasure.  This is February; I'm into my fifth book for the year. Current read, which I cannot put down?  Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney.  Awesome stuff.

I was a little put off when I read Michael Ashley's article on the iPad, when I saw he plugged his company, which publishes exclusively online. But I got really annoyed with his idea that we'd be better off with a "new" concept of 'book.'  Apparently, it's not enough for him to have a dedicated, one-to-one uninterrupted channel of communication containing another person's (or other people's) coordinated stream of thought.  Heck, that's like.... I don't know...  '... a bunch of chapters packaged between two covers...' [this was supposed to be the 'kinder, gentler' and more coherent response, so enough of that.]

Maybe we should change the concept of 'book' since aside from scholastic, reference, and summer reading, people don't read nearly as much as they used to.  What's the need for it?  There's television, there's the internet, you don't need to wade through a bunch of dark spots on a page to get an answer to your important question.  Thank goodness, because we don't have time to sit and read anyway.  We're too busy.

Maybe we do need a change in 'book.'  Although I don't think embellishing it with video and audio will help the form.  Perhaps, if we instead refine the 'cone of silence' concept introduced by Buck Henry and Mel Brooks.  That would help the form, I think.

A gift, my paperback copy of Beowulf retailed for $13.95.  At Amazon.com, it's currently $10.04 in paperback, or $9.56 for the Kindle edition.  I don't suppose the concept of 'fair use' goes too far with purveyors of e-books.  From what I understand, not only are e-books not easily lent, they're often difficult to archive.

After I finish reading it (and probably re-reading it,) I'll pass it on to a couple of friends.  This is something you can't easily do with an e-book, since that would mean lending out your electronics as well.  Sharing a book, and hearing what others you speak with regularly think about a book, is part of the pleasure of reading!

It seems as if the e-print industry sees the future as a 'one man, one Kindle, one book license' kind of place.  I don't know of any libraries planning to stock up on Kindles, to loan out to card holders.  Since people don't read as a pastime as much it will take enormous price drops to make e-books mainstream.  Without those price drops, reading isn't going to get cheaper, it's going to get much, much more expensive.  And exclusive, in the process.  Perhaps reading for pleasure will become one of the decadent activities of the privileged.

How many Kindles, iPads, Sony E-Readers, etc. can be physically produced?  Not enough to get the price low enough for everyone to have one.  Not enough for everyone to have one at any cost, realistically.  And that may be a good thing.  It ensures that much of the content beyond the daily digestion of reports, news, sports, tabloids, stock updates, recipe ideas, and amber alerts will still be available in print.  For the immediate future, anyway.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

2010: Six Hairy Issues (and How to Solve Them)

These "hairy issues" are just symptoms.



1. Blaming regulators doesn't make sense. Greed and extreme self-interest are at the heart of people's problems in general, and the causes of many of the decisions resulting in our current position. Witness the power usurped from the Senate and Judiciary by the Executive branch over the past fifty years. Those same people hobbled regulators and imposed their wills to weaken the regulatory structure and further empower themselves.



2. The fact that money speaks louder than bullets in Washington is one avenue through which those self-interests are articulated. Part of this problem is the aggressive nature of the lobby industry; a key complement to it is the non-transparent environment in which lobbying must take place to be effective. If our representation is to be responsive to all constituents it cannot be for sale or otherwise influenced by financial strength alone.



3. That a corporation is afforded the rights of a human being is wrong. It has no conscience or purpose, other than to generate a profit at any cost, sometimes with catastrophically dangerous outcomes (thalidomide, tobacco, Ford Pinto...) A corporation's person status enables self-interested people to further reach for power by allowing them to do things through the corporation that would be unconscionable by an individual and/or illegal, and to only pay penalties when caught. When personal responsibility exits, a sociopath remains. This cannot be fixed with legislation; Sarbanes-Oxley's only good when it's enforceable.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

New Poll: Less Than Half Of Republicans Believe Obama Was Born In U.S.

I see a lot of sardonic, 'Duurrrrr' responses to this article but this many people making an "I don't believe" or "I'm not sure" statement shows that racism is a bigger problem than many people think.



Instead of saying "baaaaa, Repugs!" or the like, how about some ideas about what can be done about the racism problem. I don't want to live with it and I sure as eggs is eggs don't want my kids to have to live with it either.



This is a problem we can't "nyah nyah" away. And it won't improve on its own.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Privilege vs. Right vs. Will

I was drinking a cup of coffee with some friends this morning when we touched on some items in the news, specifically the Smuggling case in Laos and the highway shooting case in Arizona of a Speed Camera operator. It was kind of a rowdy conversation - we had touched upon an HMO's mis-diagnosis of a friend with rheumatoid arthritis, who was told she had Lime's disease and paid thousands of dollars for treatments which made no improvement, and on a local bank's requirement to provide fingerprints when cashing a customer's check for a non-customer (example: you go to a bank you don't bank at, such as oh say Bank of America with a check issued to you by a BOA customer, and you ask to cash that check.) Also, we covered the new phenomenon of restaurants charging for water and bread when we dine.

At times, there were murmers of 'big brother' and 'personal choice' but they were from different corners at different times.

It was generally agreed that:

1. the woman in Laos will unfortunately likely meet her fate there; dealing with local governments on their terms means dealing with the consequences.
2. the poor schlub in the speed camera van ought never have been harmed, although the opponents of speed cameras should probably be held as culpable as the man who pulled the trigger, since they provide an environment that encourages people to break the law by 'protecting their privacy.'
3. The HMO caused the woman additional pain and expenses by not running a thorough second diagnosis before putting her to treatment. Question of how the HMO might have benefited financially.
4. We all were a little revolted by the idea of giving up our fingerprints just to get a check cashed. It seems a way the bank can avoid providing service to 'non-customers.' Wonder how they would like it if all the landlords whose clients bank with them had to come in and withdraw cash instead of writing checks? Probably they would not care very much.
5. There were suggestions of posting the names of restaurants who are charging for 'amenities' like bread, water, and butter. Hopefully though this won't be necessary!

The klatch got me thinking as I drove home about the expectations we have as Americans in the North American society. We tend to think about things like gun ownership; driving; good medical coverage; a legal process that can get you off when you're in trouble; privacy, and free bread (and circus) as not only benefits of location but benefits everyone should expect.

Many folks took up the Briton in Laos' situation as 'a travesty,' for one reason or another taking the side that the government in Laos is barbaric and therefore something ought to be done for her. The fact that Laotian authorities have upheld this very widely publicized punishment on the books for years seems to deepen their 'barbarism.' I don't wish to judge the poor woman who finds herself in this fix, but Laos is a long way from home for her, and arguing she didn't know she was carrying over a half-kilo of heroin is disingenuous. You would notice if you were carrying an extra pound of anything. Do we have the right to flout a country's laws, or expect the leniency of our own courts in other jurisdictions?

A lot of folks look at driving as a personal right. I'm told that in some states, drivers whose licenses were suspended due to drunken driving are permitted to drive to and from their jobs during suspension, so that their work doesn't suffer for the penalty. People forget, we're allowed the privilege to drive, provided we do so safely. Which in turn means driving in the proper lanes, at the proper speed. Without alcohol or firearms in hand (firearms my addendum).

Do we have the right not to have our photograph taken when/if our vehicle exceeds the speed limit? Good question. I say, 'forget it. You're driving, it's a privilege, and if you break the rules you get what you get.'

Hopefully that opinion won't earn me a cap in my trunk.

The rest of it, well, sign's o'the times I guess. Restaurants and banks can cut their noses off to spite their faces, and HMO's will do what they do because.... well, they can. But it was a good morning, and I'm glad I went down to 'little Athens' to meet and klatch.

Make Skiing Helmets Mandatory ?

It had to happen at some point - a prominent public figure has a tragic end due to a ski-related injury.  OK, so we didn't pay attention when Sonny Bono or the Kennedy Cuzzin came to their ends, but let's be honest, we really weren't paying attention.  Maybe this time?  From Bloomburg:

Natasha Richardson’s death after a fall during a ski lesson in Quebec has renewed debate in Canada over whether all skiers should be forced to wear helmets, the Canadian Press said today.

The U.K.-born actress reportedly wasn’t wearing a helmet when she fell, and seemed fine immediately afterward, Canadian Press said. Richardson, 45, died in a New York hospital yesterday. A family statement didn’t give the cause of death.

A report released last year suggested that of the 26 ski deaths in Quebec from 1990 through 2004, 14 were the result of head injuries, and just two of those victims were wearing helmets, Canadian Press said.

Emergency room doctors called on Quebec last month to make helmets mandatory, and Quebec Sport and Leisure Minister Michelle Courchesne said she would consider the idea in time for next year’s ski season, Canadian Press said

.

Personally I cover my noggin, and my children's noggins, whenever any of us goes up to ski.  If others would do as well, perhaps this sort of thing could be avoided.

Mr. Peanut to do Perp Walk

Our great and good friends at the Associated Press released the news today that
Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria because he was worried about lost sales.  What more can one say.

Peanuts the New Pinto

The New York Times reported this morning that the Peanut Corporation of America has closed a second processing plant; this one deep in the heart of Plainview, Texas.  Given the fact that the first plant in Georgia had 'problems' with its hygiene it's not too surprising that a second location would have it's own 'issues.'

As noted in the article (and widely reported) the roof on the building leaked so badly that workers erected tarps near the ceiling whenever it rained.  When they were there - meaning if it rained at night, well, anything that was up on the roof (bird droppings, dead animals, etc) would wind up draining off the roof and onto the peanut product and associated machinery.  Also noted was the fact that never-draining standing water was a daily fact in the building's basement.  Take peanuts, shelter, ample water and lax cleaning habits and you get:  rats and other vermin aplenty.  So the plant was not a shining example of the way to run a food-processing operation.  At least, as far as we consumers are given to believe.

Now, before the reader accuses me of going all paranoid about the way our country minds its P's and Q's (there are other better brains to do that work, for which I am grateful) consider the costs involved in running a filthy plant.  Right.   The costs are less than running a clean plant. And if those costs are compounded day + day + day, pretty soon you really don't want to do anything about the problem, except maybe clean up enough for the FDA to come through and hopefully not look to closely or carefully.  And if your're lucky that won't happen except, oh, every four years or so.

OK, now I'm starting to feel a little like Lewis Black, but hold on:  people run the plant, and people are basically good, so what up with that?  After you quit a place like that, you could call your local newspaper, write a blog, whatever, get it off your chest that you watched stuff like that go on.  Right?

Kenneth Kendrick, a former assistant plant manager of the Texas facility, said in an interview that the plant had a leaky roof, rodent infestation and poor process controls. A second former employee of the Texas plant, who asked for anonymity because of legal concerns, confirmed Mr. Kendrick’s descriptions of the plant and its processes. Mr. Kendrick left the plant about two years ago.

“This was a disgusting plant,” Mr. Kendrick said. “We cut corners.”

The plant always had standing water in its basement, Mr. Kendrick said. The roof leaked so badly that when it rained, workers were instructed to raise tarps to the ceiling to direct the water away from peanuts and plant equipment, the two said. Rain at night went unattended, they said.

So much for conscience here.  Anyway, at some point (if this story has legs enough) we'll find out what the management of the company did to evade detection.  Did they help stock the FDA's employee pool with friendly inspectors?  Discuss internally the costs associated with recalls?  The second item is worth a second or third look, given that the food industry tells the FDA when a recall is OK.

If you delay recalls long enough, the problem goes away - into the guts of consumers.  Sure, you pay off a few illness claims and death claims, but the product is sold, you got paid, and if the plant closes, heck, you can just take a few months off and re-open "Under New Management."

Gates Gets Elites Buzzed

With thanks to Slashdot's CmdrTaco:

"Microsoft founder turned philanthropist Bill Gates released a glass full of mosquitoes at an elite Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria. "Malaria is spread by mosquitoes," Gates said while opening a jar on stage at a gathering known to attract technology kings, politicians, and Hollywood stars. "I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected.""

Like so many others Bill is really outshining his first life with actions in his second.

No More Waiting For The Peanuts to Dissolve

Peanuts,Food Safety

 

(With thanks to the late Mr. Frank Zappa for the title of this blog)

 

The Associated Press reports the number of producers who are recalling their peanut-laden goodies is increasing:

 

GKI Foods Inc. is recalling a variety of peanut candies, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. This is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. No illness has been reported. The candies were available nationwide and sold under a variety of brand names. Details: by phone at 248-486-0055.

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Genisoy Food Co. is recalling Genisoy organic apple cinnamon soy protein bars, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The bars were available in grocery and specialty stores. Details: by phone at 888-436-4769; by Web at http://www.genisoy.com

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Eillien's Candies Inc. is recalling select jars of dry roasted peanuts, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The nuts were sold in drug, convenience and grocery stores. Details: by phone at 920-336-7549.

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Landies Candies is expanding its earlier recall of select chocolates, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The recalled candies were available in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia. Details: by phone at 800-955-2634.

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House of Flavors Ice Cream Co. is expanding its earlier recall of select ice cream products, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. Details: by phone at 800-930-7740 extension 2229.

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Kashi is recalling select granola bars, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The recalled bars were sold around the country in retail and club stores. Details: by Web at http://www.kashipeanutbutterrecall.com.

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Nutritional Resources Inc. is recalling select protein bars, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. The recalled bars were distributed to weight-loss centers and bariatric physicians in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Nevada, California and Ohio. Details: by phone at 800-395-8931.

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Great Skott Foods is recalling select snack mixes, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. The recalled snacks were available at stores around the country. Details: by phone at 414-291-9977.

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Hershey Import Co. is recalling select snacks sold under a variety of brand names, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The recalled products have expiration dates between Jan. 1, 2008 and Jan. 29, 2010 and lot codes 7001 through 9029. Details: by Web at http://www.unfi.com.

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Ocean Spray is recalling select lots of Fruit and Nut trail mix products, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The trail mixes were sold nationwide. Details: by phone at 800-662-3263.

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Walgreen Co. is expanding its recall of peanut products to include a variety of trail mixes, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. Details: by phone at 847-315-2755.

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Prairie Farms Dairy is recalling two ice cream products, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The ice cream was sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Details: by phone at 800-421-3459.

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Hudsonville Ice Cream is recalling one of its ice cream products, because it could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. The ice cream was sold in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Details: by phone at 616-546-4005.

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The Hain Celestial Group Inc. is expanding an earlier recall of one of its Ethnic Gourmet frozen foods, because they could be contaminated with salmonella. No illness has been reported. Details: by phone at 800-739-4838.

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Cherrydale Manufacturing LLC recalls Bartons, Cherrydale Farms and Haddington Farms products because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. There have been no illnesses reported.

Letter to Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter

Greetings and good wishes for a safe and productive New Year.

I am writing today greatly saddened by the news that Israel has once again attacked a UN installation in the Gaza territory. This marks the fourth time that Israeli forces on the ground in sight of the target elected to train their arms on a humanitarian mission.

I would call your attention to the excellent radio program broadcast on NH Public Radio evenings at 9:00 PM, 'As It Happens.' Written by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, the international news is very different from domestic news sources. In particular, I call your attention to the first portion of the program from January 9th, in which both a journalist in Gaza and a former Israeli Air Force Captain. You can hear this program through the link on CBC radio's web site, http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20090109.shtml

It is becoming clear that US support of Israel is encouraging that country to disregard the conventions of Geneva, disrespect the International community in its agressions, and perhaps most importantly, to disrespect human life. All of this, in the name of 'making our people safe,' is too much to bear.

I think that Israel's thought processes are erroneous and dangerous. America's support of Israel weakens the safety of Americans at home and abroad, much the same way as America's incursion in Iraq made the world less safe for Americans. And America cannot continue supporting a position that kills people in foreign lands and makes our peoples less safe from the combatants.

I therefore ask you to please enter a resolution condemning Israel's actions in Gaza, and propose banning delivery of additional military hardware and technical assistance to Israel until all aggressions are ended.

Remember when you got drunk in your brother's house?

So, here's W.  stopping by someone's house.  The owner NEVER THOUGHT he could own a house.  But W thought everyone should have one.  So W made it happen.

That was 2001-2002, when W was looking for ways to stay popular (read: BEFORE  "911" became part of the excuse vernacular)

A clip from the past:

Darrin West could not believe it. The president of the United States was standing in his living room.

It was June 17, 2002, a day Mr. West recalls as “the highlight of my life.” Mr. Bush, in Atlanta to unveil a plan to increase the number of minority homeowners by 5.5 million, was touring Park Place South, a development of starter homes in a neighborhood once marked by blight and crime.

Mr. West had patrolled there as a police officer, and now he was the proud owner of a $130,000 town house, bought with an adjustable-rate mortgage and a $20,000 government loan as his down payment — just the sort of creative public-private financing Mr. Bush was promoting.

“Part of economic security,” Mr. Bush declared that day, “is owning your own home.”

A lot has changed since then. Mr. West, beset by personal problems, left Atlanta. Unable to sell his home for what he owed, he said, he gave it back to the bank last year. Like other communities across America, Park Place South has been hit with a foreclosure crisis affecting at least 10 percent of its 232 homes, according to Masharn Wilson, a developer who led Mr. Bush’s tour.

“I just don’t think what he envisioned was actually carried out,” she said.

Who knows what that mofo envisioned?  Not me.  Holy FuShizzle.