Today in Politricks

Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran
Our government is collaborating with the very same terrorists it claims to be fighting, and by doing so, it is placing its own citizens in danger, stripping itself of virtually all credibility, and undermining international efforts to prevent future attacks.

If we are to ever engage in a true war on terror, we must put an end to such corrupt and destructive covert relationships, which violate the law and contradict the principles upon which this country was founded.

Until then, whenever a terrorist plot is foiled or an attack occurs, whether it be here in the United States, in Great Britain, in Iran, or anywhere else, we will sadly and regrettably have to ask ourselves: Is our own government in any way responsible?

Read more about the new covert action against Iran here.


Pelosi, Reid, WTF?


Bush remembers Osama (only when convenient)
In 2002 Bush said about Osama, "I just don't spend that much time on him." Now that Bush wants cash for this unjust war and needs to flesh out a commencement speech today he uses Osama to justify what that administration is doing. Isn't Bush in fact saying that Osama planned to exploit the situation in Iraq (which WE created for all to exploit) and now we are using that exploitation by Osama as a justification for the continued invastion of Iraq????


A Fascist America in 10 easy steps
An article by Naomi Wolf from last month (which I just came across). Not news to me but maybe it'll reach someone who hasn't quite connected the dots on their own. Here's a summary of the steps but definitely read the details of each in the article.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens' groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law


Lastly, and sadly.

New Jersey Pet Loss Law

If this bill passes, New Jersey would be first and only state to allow pet owners to seek compensation for emotional distress due to pet loss as well as reimbursement for vet bills, burial and value of the animal.



read more | digg story

D'oh!

Cavs were watching on as LeBron passed the ball to Marshall in the final seconds. I fell asleep with about 2 minutes in the 4th quarter so I missed this much debated ending that a lot of people are analyzing.

Profits over safety..

This Washington Post article is filled with information and a must read for anyone who eats on a daily basis (i'm hoping that's all of you.. haha). Just about everything is affected, from cancer causing substances in shrimp and dried fruit to the downright filthy and completely unfit for consumption, with only 1% of this stuff ever getting inspected as it comes in.

Towards the end of the article there is the stunning news that the U.S. will allow poultry to be slaughtered here but processed in China and shipped back to us - only then will Beijing lift it's 4-year ban on U.S. beef! Yeah, read that last sentence again. Take it all in. China and it's avian flu epidemics (hey, a new outbreak hit the papers this morning!) and we're going to trust them with chicken?

Like I said in an earlier post - if I wasn't already a vegetarian I would be turning into one now. Read the article. I guarantee you'll be moving to a farm and growing all of your own food - as I see it now, there's really no alternative. Bush & Co. are making it even easier to get this crap onto our plate. Profits over safety.



read more | digg story

Richard Serra @ MoMa June 3rd

I took the above photos of Richard Serra's work at Dia:Beacon in February 2007. One was taken inside the walls and the other looking out while the afternoon sun played with the shadows. It's hard to describe just how these free standing walls make you feel - it's one of those 'have to see it to believe it' situations. Before this year, I have never seen Serra's work up close and the experience of walking among, through and into these maze-like interactive sculptures left me feeling sort of small and mesmerized. I took the photos so I wouldn't forget.

Turns out I didn't have to try and remember too long. Serra's 40-year retrospective at MoMa is opening June 3rd. I'm excited at the chance to once again meander through the rusted walls, full of bends and turns...especially his new piece, a sort of "double S"/figure eight sculpture.

NJ doesn't care about basketball

I read an article a few weeks ago saying how empty the seats at the
home games for the Nets are and how those seats would not be
empty if the Nets were a NY team. I started to watch the games
played a little closer since reading that and I did notice all the
empty seats. I felt instant guilt - I live so close to the arena but
often can't afford the tickets to go.

Last night's Game 6, however, had the Continental Airlines Arena
packed with fans. Even Bon Jovi showed up. But the reason I say
New Jersey doesn't care about basketball is that watching the
game wind down with the Nets sealing a non-win and it was
obvious the traffic was more important for these fans than
supporting the Nets to the end, and not just supporting them
to the end but forgetting to stand up and applaud the greatest
of those players (Kidd, Carter, Jefferson and what the hell,
Moore) who will probably never play together again. Wish I was
there last night.

Call me a traitor, I don't care... but.. the Cavs have grown on
me and now that Jersey is out after giving it their best (I know
that can be argued but I'm not going there) I am happy to cheer
on LeBron and company - I think they might take it all the way.

Matthew LaClair is my local hero!

I've been following this story about the Kearny High student,
Matthew LaClair, who secretly recorded his history teacher
preaching about dinosaurs on Noah's Ark and telling students
that they will go to hell if they reject Jesus. The teacher,
David Paskiewicz, also stated that there was no scientific
evidence to support the Big Bang theory and evolution.

I graduated from Kearny High at about the same time that
Mr. Paskiewicz started teaching there. If I had been a student
of his back then I would have done exactly what Matthew
did.

T.G.I.F. - what a wonderful day for a recall!

It's Friday! The preferred day of the week
for all companies to issue recalls!

We* are what they eat . . .

*After reading this article I am reminded once again how lucky I am to be a vegetarian.

"If you don't like Jason Kidd, you don't like basketball."

Those were the sage words of Charles Barkley last night
after the Nets won (still trailing 3-2). I couldn't
watch the game last night (good thing because from what
i'm reading it was pretty ugly) but I caught the analysis
at the end and I have to say I like watching that Charles
Barkley - he doesn't mince words and says it like it is.

3-1. Ugh.

This is a great pic. Cavs pretty much plowed down the Nets.
Not fun to watch - especially those extended last seconds.
Nachbar and then Carter missing those last shots that
could have given us the win - so hard to watch! But Nets
had no chance against the Cavs defence.

Can I state for the record how much I can't stand that
uncoordinated, stumbling fool Varejao? He distracts the
entire game for me and perhaps that works on the court
but he's awful to watch. Maybe it's because he's so
dangerous .. last year he elbowed Nikos Zisis and
broke his face! Maybe it's just me, but Varejao is
like a little kid let loose with the pros, chasing
after all the balls, and flapping around. He really
fits his nickname of "The Wild Thing".

Nets cut the Cavs lead short; Kidd is back!

Factories linked to tainted food found bulldozed

The factories that produced the tainted powders found in pet food, livestock feed and fish feed,have been found bulldozed when the FDA arrived to inspect them. Lovely.



read more | digg story

Nets serve more turnovers than a bakery!

Richard Jefferson on Jason Kidd's eight turnovers: "He still had 17, 10 and eight, he just threw in a couple turnovers. I would never take anything away from Cleveland and what they did. They're a good defensive team, but Jason Kidd is his own player. I don't think anyone can take him out of his game. Sometimes he might try to do things or things might not work. He's one of the most experimental players I ever played with so I wouldn't think their defense had too much of an effect."

Best Summary of the FOOD SAFETY CRISIS

The fact is, due to greed, negligence and uncontrolled Chinese capitalism our food supply has been widely contaminated by melamine and related compounds, and USDA, FDA, CDC and other government agencies have no idea what the long term human health effects might be. Throughout this unfolding crisis, the regulatory agencies tasked with assuring the safety and purity of our food supply have consistently downplayed the risk to humans -- a somewhat understandable attitude considering Chinese and American consumers have apparently been eating melamine-tainted food for months, if not years, with no known epidemiological impact. But given the harm to our pets, and the fact that kidney damage is cumulative and can remain asymptomatic until renal function is mostly lost, I wonder how many Americans would be willing to accept on blind faith USDA/FDA's reassurances that products containing "low" levels of melamine are perfectly safe to feed to our children?

A Star is Dead

This is an image of a bullet cluster where one of the stars, 150 times larger than the sun, has recently exploded. It was the brightest supernova explosion ever recorded. I have always been fascinated with space and this image is one of the reasons why.

Pigs in China mysteriously bleeding to death (UPDATE: "blue ear disease" named as the cause

The Apple Daily newspaper said that up to 80 percent of the pigs had died in the area, that peasants were engaged in panic selling of ailing animals at deep discounts and that pig carcasses were floating down a river.

The lack of even basic details is reviving longstanding questions about whether China is willing to share information about health and food safety issues with potentially global implications. The Chinese government — and particularly the government of Guangdong Province, which is next to Hong Kong — was criticized in 2003 for concealing information about SARS when it emerged in Foshan, 95 miles northwest of Hong Kong. After SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, spread to Hong Kong and around the world, top Chinese officials promised to improve disclosure.

But officials in Hong Kong, at the World Health Organization and at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Monday that they had been told almost nothing about the latest pig deaths and that they had been given limited details about the apparently unrelated problem of wheat gluten contamination, which has led to a massive pet food recall in the United States.

UPDATE
China says the outbreak was a result of 'blue ear disease'. Read more here.

Farmed fish in U.S. fed melamine-tainted meal

After pigs and chickens, the farmed fish mark the third food animal given contaminated feed. The level of contamination is expected to be too low to pose any danger to human health, said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection.

Melamine used was the CHEAPEST SCRAP FORM POSSIBLE

Often, the animal feed producers say they do not buy pure melamine, which is used to make plastics and fertilizer, but impure melamine scrap from chemical factories, which is much cheaper than pure melamine.

Feed producers say they believed it to be legal and nontoxic, though they acknowledge they are cheating buyers. Scientists looking at the pet food deaths, however, say melamine scrap may have impurities and related compounds, like cyanuric acid, which could turn it more toxic.

Chinese chemical makers say they also produce a chemical which is a combination of melamine and cyanuric acid, and that feed producers have often sought to purchase scrap material from this product.

Melamine scrap or cyanuric acid scrap often costs one quarter of the price of pure melamine or cyanuric acid and is much cheaper per protein count than wheat or corn meal.

Cyanuric acid scrap is often even cheaper than melamine scrap, producers here say, which is one reason it may have been mixed in or used as a substitute for melamine in the pet food ingredients.

full article (with a strange publish date of tomorrow (05/09/07) can be found here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/business/worldbusiness/09food.html?pagewanted=2&ref=business

Chicken McMelamine

20 million chickens that were fed melamine tainted pet food are set free by USDA and will be released into the food chain. Enjoy that happy meal!

From China to Panama, a Trail of Poisoned Medicine

Toxic syrup has figured in at least eight mass poisonings around the world in the past two decades. Researchers estimate that thousands have died. In many cases, the precise origin of the poison has never been determined. But records and interviews show that in three of the last four cases it was made in China, a major source of counterfeit drugs.

Panama is the most recent victim. Last year, government officials there unwittingly mixed diethylene glycol into 260,000 bottles of cold medicine — with devastating results. Families have reported 365 deaths from the poison, 100 of which have been confirmed so far. With the onset of the rainy season, investigators are racing to exhume as many potential victims as possible before bodies decompose even more.

Panama’s death toll leads directly to Chinese companies that made and exported the poison as 99.5 percent pure glycerin.

Forty-six barrels of the toxic syrup arrived via a poison pipeline stretching halfway around the world. Through shipping records and interviews with government officials, The New York Times traced this pipeline from the Panamanian port of Colón, back through trading companies in Barcelona, Spain, and Beijing, to its beginning near the Yangtze Delta in a place local people call “chemical country.”

'FDA says beware of glycerin imported from China'

The FDA is warning pharmaceutical manufacturers, suppliers, drug repackers, and health professionals who compound medications to be especially vigilant in assuring that glycerin, used worldwide in liquid over-the-counter and prescription drug products, is not contaminated with diethylene glycol - a known poison used in antifreeze and as a solvent.



read more | digg story

How Two Innocuous Compounds Combined to Kill Pets

What do a dead cat in Ontario and a motel swimming pool in Phoenix have in common?



read more | digg story

Want to see what melamine looks like?

THIS IS WHEAT GLUTEN



THIS IS WHEAT GLUTEN ON DRUGS (or rather with the addition of melamine)



Yes, I realize it's magnified - but just look at the diff'rence in color between the pure wheat gluten and the adulterated gluten. Someone in the manufacturaing plant had to be on crack not to notice the diff'rence between the two. More science here:
http://www.labservices.uoguelph.ca/urgent.cfm#crystals

FDA press conference HIGHLIGHTS

from Itchmo.com:

UP TO 8,500 PET DEATHS, FOOD TAINTED SINCE 2006

The FDA press conference yielded new information.
Here are the highlights:

-Of 17,000 calls up to 50% claimed their pets died.

-Pet food from 2006 tested positive for melamine.
No samples available prior to that date.

-2.7 million chickens ate tainted food. In addition, tainted
pet food consumed by chickens in hundreds of farms.

-Will not give clear answer to whether people ate those
chickens.

-No details given on investigation in China. Not even the
number of investigators.

-Can’t rule out contamination in other vegetable protein.

-All tainted ingredients went to pet food companies.

FDA Press Conference at 4PM Eastern Time

Will they finally admit the higher death count? Will they finally
announce the addition of 29 new pet food recalls that happened in
the last 24 hours? Will they tell us they are detaining a Chinese
exporter - if so, will they prosecute him? Will they finally tell
us the truth about melamine AND cyanuric acid in the food as that
is the combination necessary for the reaction to cause death or
severe illness? They can't tell me anything I don't know - but
will they finally let the rest of the U.S. know the facts?
We'll see. Tune in.

Nets @ Raptors

I'm taking a break. The pet food, the politics, the final exams.
I have missed the last four Nets games due to the things above.
Tonight the Nets are 3-1 - if there's one game to watch it's this
one. Hopefully the Raptors fans won't succeed in doing this.
Pretty funny. About four more hours until I head to the local
watering hole.

Go Nets!

FDA IMPORT ALERT

Finally, nearly two months later, the FDA is a little closer to announcing what many of us suspected all along. Problem is, the import alert (NOT a press release, NOT an update) they posted on 4/27/06 is so buried on their website that bloggers only found it late last night!

That import alert which must be read to be believed - notes an extremely large increase in the number of pets the FDA is willing to suggest have been killed by tainted products. On 4/26/07 FDA officials repeated that that only "16" pets are reported dead - the same day at which they said they weren’t expecting more recalls,
(even though a recall was made just before or during the media conference, and four more in the hours after) the alert dropped quietly onto the FDA’s Web site 4/27/06. It happens to note:

This has been one of the largest pet food recalls in history, a recall that continues to expand. Thus far, 18 firms have recalled product, 17 Class I and 1 class II, covering over 5,300 product lines. As of April 26, 2007, FDA had received over 17,000 consumer complaints relating to this outbreak, and those complaints included reports of approximately 1950 deaths of cats and 2200 deaths of dogs.

The info on their alert is a start. It's still a mess though and they really don't know what's going on. Add in the fact that melamine has been spiking our food and Fido's food for decades and it's no wonder there more questions than answers.


IA #99-29, 4/27/07, IMPORT ALERT #99-29, "DETENTION WITHOUT PHYSICAL
EXAMINATION OF ALL VEGETABLE PROTEIN PRODUCTS FROM CHINA FOR ANIMAL OR HUMAN
FOOD USE DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF MELAMINE AND/OR MELAMINE ANALOGS"

TYPE OF ALERT: Detention Without Physical Examination (Countrywide)

(Note: This import alert represents the Agency's current guidance to FDA field
personnel regarding the manufacturer(s) and/or products(s) at issue. It does
not create or confer any rights for or on any person, and does not operate to
bind FDA or the public).

PRODUCTS: Wheat Gluten
Rice Gluten
Rice Protein
Rice Protein Concentrate
Corn Gluten
Corn Gluten Meal
Corn By-Products
Soy Protein
Soy Gluten
Proteins (includes amino acids and protein hydrosylates)
Mung Bean Protein

PRODUCT 02G[][]08 - Soy Bean Meal/Powder/Gluten/Protein Isolate
CODES: 18E[][]03 Soy Protein Powder
02F[][]08 Wheat Gluten
02E[][]06 - Wheat Flour Gluten
71M[][]01 Wheat Gluten

02D[][]12 Rice Protein
02D[][]13 Rice Gluten
71I[][]03 Rice Protein

71G[][]02 - Corn Gluten
02B[][][][] Milled Rice Products

54[][][][][]- Amino acids and protein hydrosylates


PROBLEM: Poisonous or Deleterious Substance
Unfit For Food
Unsafe Food Additive
PAF: PES

COUNTRY: China (CN)

MANUFACTURER/SHIPPER: All

CHARGES: "The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant to
section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to bear or contain a
poisonous or deleterious substance, which may render it
injurious to health [Adulteration, section 402(a)(1)]"

and/or


"The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant to
section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to bear or contain a
food additive that is unsafe within the meaning of section
409 [Adulteration, section 402(a)(2)(C)(i)]"

and/or

"The article is subject to refusal of admission pursuant
to section 801(a)(3) in that it appears to be unfit for
food [Adulteration, 402(a)(3)]"

RECOMMENDING
OFFICE: Division of Import Operations and Policy, HFC-170

REASON FOR
ALERT: In recent weeks, there has been an outbreak of cat and dog deaths
and illness associated with pet food manufactured with vegetable
proteins contaminated with melamine and melamine related
compounds. In response to this outbreak, FDA has been conducting
an aggressive and intensive investigation. Pet food manufacturers
and others have recalled dog and cat food and other suspect
products and ingredients. This has been one of the largest pet
food recalls in history, a recall that continues to expand. Thus
far, 18 firms have recalled product, 17 Class I and 1 class II,
covering over 5,300 product lines. As of April 26, 2007, FDA had
received over 17,000 consumer complaints relating to this
outbreak, and those complaints included reports of approximately
1,950 deaths of cats and 2,200 deaths of dogs. The Agency is
working with federal, state, and local governments, academia, and
industry to assess the extent of the outbreak, better understand
how melamine and melamine related compounds contributed to the pet
deaths and illnesses, and to determine the underlying cause of the
contamination.

As of April 26, 2007, FDA had collected approximately 750 samples
of wheat gluten and products made with wheat gluten and, of those
tested thus far, 330 were positive for melamine and/or melamine
related compounds. FDA had also collected approximately 85
samples of rice protein concentrate and products made with rice
protein concentrate and, of those tested thus far, 27 were
positive for melamine and/or melamine related compounds. FDA's
investigation has traced all of the positive samples as having
been imported from China.

Although FDA's investigation is ongoing, the Agency has learned
the following about the outbreak and its association with
contaminated vegetable proteins from China:

1. For the vegetable proteins and finished products that have been
found to be contaminated, it is unknown who the actual
manufacturers are, how many manufacturers there are, or where in
China they may be located.

The samples of vegetable proteins that have tested positive for
the presence of melamine and melamine analogs have, thus far, been
traced to two Chinese firms, Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology
Development Co. Ltd. and Binzhou Futian Biology Technology Co.
Ltd. Records relating to the importation of these products
indicate that these two firms had manufactured the ingredients in
question. There is strong evidence, however, that these firms are
not the actual manufacturers. Moreover, despite many weeks of
investigation, it is still unknown who the actual manufacturer or
manufacturers of the contaminated products imported from China
are.
All of the contaminated wheat gluten has thus far been traced to
Xuzhou Anying. According to the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of the Chinese
government, Xuzhou Anying purchased its wheat gluten from 25
different manufacturers and Xuzhou Anying may just be a supplier.
Press statements by Xuzhou Anying state that it did not
manufacturer the wheat gluten it had shipped to United States that
has been associated with the outbreak, but that it received that
wheat gluten from other sources not named in the press statements.

Despite its investigation into the matter, FDA has been unable to
determine who, in fact, the actual manufacturer(s) are.
2. The source of the contamination problem is currently unknown and
FDA has been unable to isolate the scope of the problem.

Melamine is a molecule that has a number of commercial and
industrial uses. Other than a few limited authorizations for use
in food contact materials for human food, melamine has no approved
use as an ingredient in human or animal food in the United States.
FDA is continuing its investigation into how the melamine and
melamine related compounds may have gotten into the vegetable
protein, and has asked the Chinese government to help with this
investigation.

In addition, FDA does not know how widespread the problem in China
might be. For example, FDA does not know which regions of the
country may or may not be impacted by the problem, which firms are
the major manufacturers and exporters of vegetable proteins to the
United States, where these vegetable proteins are grown in China,
and what controls are currently in place to prevent against
contamination.
According to the Chinese government, Xuzhou Anying did not declare
the contaminated wheat gluten it shipped to the United States as a
raw material for feed or food. Rather, according to the Chinese
government, it was declared to them as non-food product, meaning
that it was not subject to mandatory inspection by the Chinese
government. In addition, in a communication to the U.S.
government, the Chinese government has requested that FDA either
request or require that U.S. importers of plant protein products
insist on AQSIQ certification, based on AQSIQ testing, as part of
the import contract. According to a media report, China's Foreign
Ministry issued a statement that the contaminated vegetable
protein managed to get past Chinese customs without inspection
because it had not been declared for use in pet food. The news
report said the contamination problem has prompted China to step
up inspections of plant-based proteins and to list melamine as a
banned substance for food exports and domestic sales.

This information indicates that there are manufacturing control
issues that cannot be linked to specific sources in China, but
instead require country-wide monitoring.

3. On April 17, 2007, pet food manufacturers in South Africa recalled
dry cat and dog food due to formulation with a contaminated corn
gluten, a vegetable protein. FDA has learned that the corn gluten
was contaminated with melamine and that the corn gluten had been
imported from a third-party supplier in China. According to news
reports, the contaminated pet food has been linked to the deaths
of approximately 30 dogs in South Africa.

GUIDANCE: Districts may detain without physical examination, all Vegetable
protein products from China.

Appropriate screening criteria have been set.

For questions or issues concerning science, science policy, sample
collection, analysis, preparation, or analytical methodology,
contact Mr. Thomas Savage, Division of Field Science, at 301-827-
1026.

If a firm, shipper or importer believes that their product should
not be subject to detention under this import alert they should
forward information supporting their position to FDA at the
following address:

Food and Drug Administration
Division of Import Operations and Policy (HFC-170)
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 12-36
Rockville, MD 20587

In order to adequately assess whether a manufacturer has the
appropriate controls and processes in place to ensure the quality
of the product being produced, the firm or shipper must provide
the following information:
1. Documentation showing that a minimum of five (5)
consecutive entries have been released by FDA based on
third party laboratory analyses using FDA recommended
methods and that all shipments did not contain the
presence of melamine and/or melamine analogs.

AND

2. Certificate, such as from AQSIQ, indicating that an
inspection of the manufacturer was conducted and
adequate controls are in place. Information should
also include:

a. Copy of the inspectional reports and compliance
status of the manufacturer.

b. If products were sampled during the course of the
inspection, test results indicating that the
products are free of melamine and/or melamine
analog.


All requests for removal (exemption) from DWPE will be forwarded
by DIOP to CVM (HFV-230) or CFSAN (HFS-606) for
evaluation depending on the intended final use in animal
or human food.

PRIORITIZATION
GUIDANCE: I

FOI: No purging required

KEYWORDS: Feed, pet food, human food, melamine, gluten, protein,
concentrate, rice, wheat, corn, soy, mung bean

PREPARED BY: Cathie Marshall, CVM, HFV-232, 240-276-9217
Salvatore Evola, CFSAN, HFS-606- 302-436-2164
Linda Wisniowski, DIOP, HFC-172, 301-443-6553

DATE LOADED
INTO FIARS: April 27, 2007