I will be offline until Monday. Heading out to San Francisco…and I will have my laptop but it’s not set up to thus far for me to get into my blog. After I replaced the hard disk, a lot of stuff still has not been put back on it.

Cheers!

Well, WalMart does it again. In their drive to put the world out of business, they have now turned their attack on organic foods. WalMart’s announcement to begin selling organics is NOT good news, as you can see from this white paper. In fact, it is possibly the worst news that any organic farmer in this country, or in any other country with stringent laws, can hear.

Wal-Mart Declares War on Organic Farmers: Partners with Agribusiness for Corporate Takeover

CORNUCOPIA, WISCONSIN: A report released today by The Cornucopia Institute, the nation’s most aggressive organic farming watchdog, accuses Wal-Mart of cheapening the value of the organic label by sourcing products from industrial-scale factory farms and Third World countries, such as China.

Wal-Mart announced earlier this year that they would greatly increase the number of organic products they offered and price them at a target of 10% above the cost for conventional food.

“We have received scores of press inquiries over the past few months asking us if Wal-Mart’s organic expansion was ‘good news or bad news’ for the industry,” stated Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. “My stock answer has been: If Wal-Mart lends their logistical prowess to organic food both farmers and consumers will be big winners by virtue of a more competitive marketplace. However, if Wal-Mart applies their standard business model, and in essence Wal-Marts organics, then everyone will lose.”

The Institute’s white paper, Wal-Mart Rolls Out Organic Products Expansion or Market Delusion?, makes the argument that Wal-Mart is indeed poised to drive down the price of organic food in the marketplace by inventing a “new” organic and cheap imports of questionable quality. “Organic family farmers in this country could see their livelihoods disintegrate the same way so many industrial workers saw their family-supporting wages evaporate as Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers put the screws to manufacturers production shift to China and other low-wage countries,” Kastel added.

Wal-Mart, already the nation’s largest organic milk retailer, partnering with the giant milk processor Dean Foods (Horizon Organic), recently introduced their own private-label organic milk packaged by Aurora Organic Dairy. Aurora, based in Boulder, Colorado, has faced a maelstrom of organic industry criticism and negative press for operating a number of industrial-scale dairies with thousands of cows confined in feedlot-like conditions. They are also the subject of current USDA investigations into their organic management practices.

“If there was any previous doubt as to their intentions, partnering with Dean/Horizon and Aurora should leave no question in anyone’s mind as to how Wal-Mart is approaching its organic initiative,” proclaimed Steve Sprinkel long-time industry observer and columnist for the nation’s leading sustainable agricultural journal, Acres USA. Large percentages of milk from Horizon and Aurora come from factory farms, milking as many as 10,000 cows, allegedly without the required access to pasture. The two companies have also been accused of bringing nonorganic cows onto their farms. “Because of the intense media scrutiny there is no doubt that Wal-Mart entered into these relationships in blatant disregard to the ethical expectations of the consumers who have helped build organics into a lucrative $16 billion industry,” Sprinkel added.

This April, The Cornucopia Institute released a rating of the nation’s approximately 70 organic namebrand and private-label organic dairy products (http://www.cornucopia.org/ ). Although almost 90% received a very high rating, Horizon and Aurora refused to participate in the study and received the Institute’s lowest score. And in a subsequent poll of their over 800,000 members, the Organic Consumers Association moved to boycott Horizon and Aurora dairy products. “It’s hard to believe that at this time Wal-Mart would embrace these products,” said OCA director Ronnie Cummins.

In addition to the report’s documentation of the Wal-Mart/factory-farm connection, the study also highlighted the company’s decision to lower the per unit cost basis on organic products by collaborating with its long-time trading partner China.

“Even if it were not for many serious concerns about the propriety of the certification process in China little if any regulatory oversight there burning fossil fuels and undercutting our domestic farmers, does not meet the consumer’s traditional definition of what is truly organic,” Kastel stated.

While Wal-Mart sources Chinese organic products, the industry’s largest organic and natural foods retailer, Whole Foods Market, announced plans this summer to greatly expand their offerings of locally grown produce in deference to organic consumer sentiments.

“Between Whole Foods and hundreds of the nation’s cooperatively owned natural foods groceries, we are certainly set up for a clash of the titans,” said Cummins. “Will consumers choose cheap industrial food, be it from factory farms or questionable Third World imports, or will they continue to support ethical processors and family farmers?”

This month The Cornucopia Institute sent a letter to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott suggesting that Wal-Mart’s approach to organics would likely undermine the corporation’s campaigns to attract upscale shoppers to their stores and to help cleanse the reputation of world’s largest retailer in terms of the widespread criticism that it has endured due to its labor and environmental practices.

“We are afraid that you are grossly miscalculating your move into organics and underestimating the knowledge and commitment of the organic consumer. Those buying organic food are comfortable paying the historic premiums because they think that part of their purchase dollar supports a different kind of environmental, animal husbandry, and economic justice ethic,” the letter from Cornucopia read in part.

The letter also cited an example of Wal-Mart selling mislabeled conventional yogurt as organic. In addition, the Institute’s report also red-flagged the retailer selling organic baby formula made with both questionable synthetic ingredients and processing materials. The report suggests that Wal-Mart might lack the qualifications or commitment to oversee what promises to be one of the nation’s largest organic manufacturing, distribution, and retail networks.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Cornucopia Institute’s White Paper, Wal-Mart Rolls Out Organic Products. Market Expansion or Market Delusion?, along with a photo gallery containing images of some of the organic items now being offered for sale at Wal-Mart stores can be found on the organization’s Web page at http://www.cornucopia.org/ .

The Cornucopia Institute is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy and economic development our goal is to empower farmers both politically and through marketplace initiatives. The Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit.

I was going to write something on this continuing hype over bird flu. The country of the day is Indonesia, now being touted as the “hardest hit,” and surpassing even Vietnam in its death rate. I was about to make fun of the news, you know, for acting like the bubonic plague has swept the nation.

But it seems, that bird flu is rapidly decimating the population of Indonesia. The 51st victim just died. This is from the International Herald Tribune:

A 9-year-old boy died from bird flu just hours after being admitted to a hospital in Indonesia, becoming the 51st confirmed fatality in the country worst hit by the virus, a senior Health Ministry official said Monday.

Indonesia, a sprawling island nation of more than 220 people, has attracted international criticism earlier this year for not doing enough to stamp out the virus in its vast poultry stocks.

So if Indonesia really only has 220 people (give or take) then 51 people dead is quite a chunk.

I thought Indonesia had a larger population. Either that, or the Herald needs to get a new copyeditor.

And Happy Rosh Hashanah, to those who celebrate the Jewish New Year. It is interesting to note, how close Rosh Hashanah comes to the Autumnal Equinox. This year, they are on the same date. It does show how the ancient Hebrews were tied into the seasons, the same as those dreaded Pagans. The autumn is the time of the harvest, signalling the end of the growing season, and really, the end of the year. Life ends and then is reborn. Pagans and wicca begin their celebration of the new year with the Autumnal equinox, which culminiates in Samhain about a month later–better known as Halloween.

I should add, as I have before, that many Christian holiday are really Christianized Pagan holidays. Easter is linked with the Vernal or Spring Equinox, and like those pagan festivals, is a time of rebirth, resurrection, beginning of life. There doesn’t seem to be any Christian holidays in the fall, to take the place of the celebration of Samhain and the Autumn equinox. I guess they figured creating Christmas was enough.

Happy first day of autumn!

The porn continues, trying to make its way into my comments box. At least the numbers have been relatively small these past few days. But among every collection of spam, there is always an award winner. An achievement of a deranged mind.

Big fat grammas horny pussy

So is that nice to say about your gramma? Or granma? Or whatever?

Now, have you heard the news? WalMart does good things to help people. In fact, they are now concerned that some people can’t afford the high price of pharmaceuticals, so they’ve decided to bring out the PR bells and whistles and have announced that they will be offering generic drugs at $4 dollars a pop. Never mind that they still don’t pay their employees a living wage, or that they just lost an enormous lawsuit for not paying overtime, and have 100 more employee related lawsuits pending. Never mind that they think that they need to pay health benefits for their own employees. But that’s WalMart. They want us to think that they are doing something good.

From USA Today:

Savings could be less than $1 per prescription to more than $20, depending on the drug and pharmacy where customers shop, according to information from Wal-Mart and prices of other retailers posted at MyFloridarx.com, a state-run website.

That could draw more customers to Wal-Mart, already the largest seller of groceries and toys, possibly forcing other chain drugstores to cut their prices, says Ed Kaplan of the Segal Co., a benefits consulting firm.

“Customers who take five or seven medications a month and can save $10 on each, might switch,” says Kaplan.

The move caused share prices for generic drug and pharmacy companies to drop Thursday.

Wal-Mart says the $4 for 30-day supply price would save customers $7.98 a month for blood-pressure drug lisinopril, $3.85 for diabetes drug metformin and 80 cents for blood-pressure drug atenolol.

Simon says the $4 generics are not expected to be a “loss leader,” meaning Wal-Mart doesn’t expect to lose money on the drugs in hopes of attracting more customers to buy other products.

That’s because the drugs offered are longtime generics that have multiple manufacturers and that are already inexpensive on the wholesale market. Large companies such as Wal-Mart can often purchase in bulk for less than the $4 cost.

Now, Walmart is making this sound more exciting than it really is. They say that they are offering 291 drugs in this scheme, which is really just a tiny fraction of the 2100 generic drugs available. Plus, this list includes different dosage strengths of the same drugs. When those are removed, the list shrinks to less than 100 drugs.

“Providing low-cost drugs is a good thing. But not providing affordable health care to workers is not a good thing. Why can’t Wal-Mart address the serious health care crisis in its own stores?” says Chris Kofinis, with WakeUp Walmart.com.

Uh, yeah, good question. Why not, Walmart? Well, the answer is simple. This move is not going to cost them anything really, because they will probably be offering the cheapest generics, and will be able to get them at a good price since they’ll buy in bulk. So they’ll make a little less money, but certainly not lose any. And they figure if they can lure you into the store for your pills, you may stop and buy something else.

Plus, they are hoping to kill the competition. Always a motive on the part of Walmart.

But if they offer health insurance, well, that costs some money. Never mind that Alice Walton and her kiddies are all worth over $15 billion each. They can’t bear the thought of giving their minimum wage peons health insurance. Best to let the tax payer pay for it, via Medicaid. Which a lot of Walmart employees collect.

Ah yes, just another day in Walmartland. I am proud to say that I have never set foot in a Walmart and never will. They don’t sell anything that cannot be purchased elsewhere.

Oh, what a conundrum. Here is an interesting little ditty, that is sure to twist Dubya’s brain into a frenzy. This appeared this morning on Mediabistro.com:

News from the 2nd annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting today in Midtown: Sir Richard Branson just announced that 100% of the proceeds of Virgin’s transportation businesses — its trains and airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Nigeria, and maybe Virgin America and Virgin Blue — are being devoted to reducing global warming and greenhouse emissions. Branson estimated the net worth of his commitment at $3 billion over 10 years.

Now the conundrum is that according to Bush science (which even his own hand-picked scientific panels don’t agree with) global warming does not exist. In fact, nothing that we are doing to the environment has any impact on the health and well being of our planet, and all the life that lives on it.

So if global warming doesn’t exist, then what is Sir Richard donating his money to? A scam? Some crazed policy that drug infested scientists with degrees from correspondence classes dreamed up one night while brewing up a batch of meth?

I kind of think that Sir Richard would not be willing to part with $3 billion dollars unless he was absolutely sure of the crisis at hand. Don’t you?

The Clinton Global Initiative is really interesting. What I find most fascinating is how ex-president Clinton is throwing his time and energy to save the planet and the life living on it, while seated president George W. Bush is doing everything that he can to destroy it. Amazing difference, don’t you think?

Perhaps nursing experts and talking heads are awaiting the Second Coming to solve the nursing shortage. Or maybe intervention from Virgin Mary, or another favored saint. Perhaps the savior will come in the form of a revised law which will allow any number of nurses to enter the US from abroad.

At any rate, the news keeps churning out these silly stories, padded with quotes from those who think that they have the nursing shortage pegged. Enter the University of Southern Mississippi, whose nursing school is launching an online program to help nurses with associate’s degrees to earn their bachelor’s degrees without having to quit work.

I had saved this article a few weeks ago, but neglected to make a copy of the link. So I will summarize the idiocy in its full glory. It quotes from a nursing professor named Bonita Reinert who says that this program will help ease the shortage of nurses and nursing faculty. How it will do that is another one of those exercises in brain power, being that we are speaking about people who are already nurses. And most nurses do not drop out of the work force to continue their education. They attend classes on days that they are off from work, and take courses that can be done remotely. Even before the Internet, remote classes were an option, by way of the TV set. It is nothing new.

“I see nurses that might have dropped out of nursing to go back to school being able to stay in practice with this program,” Reinert said.

I wonder where she has seen this? You would either have to have a spouse or parent support you, live on welfare, or have won the lottery in order to have the luxury of going back to school full time and not working.

How many nurses has she seen drop out of nursing to go to school full time for a BSN? One? two? three? Am I getting close?

And moving some of the 26,000 registered nurses in Mississippi who hold associate’s degrees up to the bachelor’s degree level could encourage some to earn advanced degrees, thereby widening the field of potential nursing faculty, she added.

Same old story, same old nonsense. Prof Reinert, nurses are not becoming teachers because they don’t get paid enough. It’s not worth the money that they put into getting an advanced degree. Why do you think that encouraging more nurses to get their BSN is going to magically create more teachers? If anything, it will speed up the number of nurses leaving the profession or at least, bedside nursing.

Getting a BSN is the fastest and easiest way for a nurse to get an undergrad degree. From there, she can go on to grad school in any number of areas. She’s not limited to nursing. The BSN opens the door to law school, medical school, pharmacy school, or degrees in the sciences, psychology, an MBA…. And even getting an undergrad degree makes her more eligible for non-hospital type jobs, like case management, or a pharm rep, etc.

So once again, we have another pathetic news story about solving the great nursing shortage. Are we still awake?

This is a press release from a professional medical association, applauding the move by the CDC to “normalize” HIV and make testing routine. In theory, it is a good idea. Keeping HIV apart from other ailments, including other STDs, continues to stimatize it and place it in a special category.

On the other hand, some providers may take this as an opportunity to pressure some patients to get tested, such as a pregnant woman. And if she refuses, then what? If HIV testing is made like any other test, then a clinician can run any test that he pleases. He can test a pregnant woman for HIV, just like he can test her blood for iron levels, glucose, or anything else. And if she’s positive, we will open up a whole other can of worms–can treatment be forced upon a pregnant woman? And should it?

Will HIV testing be done for employee hirings, routinely? And why not, if a consent is no longer needed. And then can employment suddenly be revoked (sorry, we have a hiring freeze) if the test is positive? Afterall, who wants to hire someone who may end up with very expensive healthcare bills.

These are hypothetical situations, but removing the need to sign a consent can potentially open the door to abuse. HIV still carries a heavy stigma, and while trying to make testing be like any other disease (ie, trying to remove the stigma), it may merely replace one set of problems for another.

HIV Experts Applaud CDC Move to Make HIV Testing Routine

Alexandria, Va.–The HIV Medicine Association applauds new federal guidelines that will make HIV testing a routine part of medical care—an important step to controlling the growing HIV epidemic in the United States. Despite prevention efforts, 40,000 more people are infected with HIV every year.

In guidelines to be released Thursday, Sept. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends testing patients in all health-care settings for HIV—from primary care doctors’ offices to public health clinics to prison hospitals. Patients should be informed of the test, and can opt out.

“We’re very happy that CDC is taking this important step,” said HIVMA Chair Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD. “We see far too many patients who were never tested for HIV before they became sick with AIDS. Routine testing will help identify more of the 25 percent of people with HIV who don’t know they are infected.”

“Patients who get treatment while they’re still healthy live longer than those who get it when they’re already sick,” notes HIVMA Board member Michael S. Saag, MD. “The costs for providing their care is more than two times lower when treatment is started earlier as well.”

The new CDC guidelines are the first step to removing barriers to testing. Until now, testing for HIV has been treated differently than for any other disease, requiring a separate written consent form and extensive counseling on the test, its implications, and HIV risk behavior. The new guidelines suggest that these steps no longer be required in clinical settings.

“Patients go to their doctors expecting to be screened for heart disease, cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, or other conditions,” Dr. Saag said. “But no one signs a form to get a prostate exam. We need to make sure that patients are informed about the HIV test, but we should not put obstacles in the way of testing.”

But testing is just the beginning of a patient’s battle with HIV. The next hurdle is access to treatment and expert medical care. Many of those identified are likely to be uninsured or underinsured. “The programs they rely on to provide them with care are already bursting at the seams,” Dr. Saag said. “Providers are overworked and burning out. Funding is too short to hire more staff, even as the caseload keeps increasing all the time. We’re on the brink of a crisis in HIV care in this country.”

“Routine HIV testing can save lives. It is the right thing to do,” Dr. Kuritzkes added. “But Congress absolutely must back up increased testing with funding to match. Now is the time for overburdened HIV care providers to speak up. Tell Congress to reauthorize and adequately fund the Ryan White CARE Act and expand access to Medicaid to ensure that those who are newly identified with HIV receive the care and services they need.”

It is a sad story of how two premature babies died because of human error. In this case, the error appears to have been that of a pharmacy technician, who sent up the wrong formulation of heparin–one meant for adults–to the NICU. The nurses were apparently unable to tell the difference, and this might have been because of the way the drugs were delivered to them.

From Medical News Today:

Two premature babies, one at 25 and the other at 26 weeks’ gestation, have died after being given adult doses of Heparin, a blood-thinning drug. A spokesperson for the Newborn Intensive Care unit, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, said the overdoses were due to human error. It has been reported that four more babies also received overdoses of Heparin at the same hospital. One of these four babies may have to undergo surgery as a result.

Heparin, which is commonly administered to premature babies to prevent blood clots, may trigger severe internal bleeding if the dose is too high.

An investigation is underway to find out how the errors could have happened. A hospital spokesperson said some steps have already been taken to make sure this does not happen again.

However, and I always have to have a “however,” I am wondering why this story is even in the news. Not that stories of medical errors aren’t important, but there are about 100,000 medical errors a year in hospitals. A lot of patients die, but they never get mentioned. It is interesting how news bureaus pick and select the tales of woe that they think will create the most interest and cause the most sensationalism. I guess hearing how tiny premature infants bled to death due to a pharmacist’s ineptitude is far more exciting than the 40 year old overweight man who just received an overdose of insulin, went into a coma and died. Or how that 56 year old woman was prescribed the wrong antibiotic, went into anaphylactic shock, and couldn’t be saved.

This particular article does point out that the hospital administers thousands of heparin doses each day and 100s of 1000s each year. Most patients have no problem, and dying from a heparin overdose is exceedingly rare.

Medical errors are a definite problem, and one due to any number of factors, such as understaffing and fatigue, and there should be public pressure for facilities to clean up their act. Hospital personnel should also be routinely refusing to take on assignments which lend themselves to error, such as too many patients, forced overtime, working in poor lighting, etc. But that said, I still wonder why a preemie death makes the news from a rare mistake. And it would be nice if writers might do a little snooping and find out what the situation is at this facility. What was staffing like for pharmacy when this happened? Who is the person who made the error? Was he being forced to work overtime? Was the lighting poor? Did he have too much to do at one time?

And what is the system like for checking drugs coming up from pharmacy? What is nursing staffing like in the NICU? Were the nurses so rushed that they didn’t look at the vial? Did they recalculate the dose?

That’s the problem with many of these news stories in that they only give a glimpse of a story.

There were 106 today, cluttering up my comment box, and eagerly awaiting my approval. Sorry guys, no can do. Today porn seemed to dominate. And here was one of my favorites.

ebony black ass dirty ebony girls ebony woman

I guess black is the theme here. A dirty ebony girl with a black ass. Or an ebony girl with a dirty black ass. Or ebony woman with a dirty girls ass. Oh, how the combinations of this teaser just tug at the imagination.

Spammers, you are not welcome on my site. Leave me alone, die, go bother someone your own size.

With all of this talk about contaminated spinach, what’s Popeye to do? How is he going to get a sudden burst of testosterone, big muscles, and be able to fight off his foes?

Of course, Popeye doesn’t get a hormonal overload from spinach but iron. And in the cartoon world, iron gives Popeye instant strength and bulks up those muscles.

Popeye also ate his spinach from a can (yuck), so he’s probably safe since the big crisis is with fresh spinach. I wonder though, if organically grown spinach is having the same problems. I haven’t seen anything about this distinction, so I am curious if organically grown spinach is also having contamination problems.

Now here’s a scary ad that flew into my email box this morning. Spam, yes, and probably just hype (one hopes) to entice people to click into the site–but still. According to the title message, you can “Earn a nursing degree 100% online.”

In other words, become a cyber nurse without ever seeing or touching a patient during your training. With this training program, you learn the glory of treating cyber patients from the comfort of your own home, without ever getting your hands messy or inhaling the fragrant scent of puke.

As you read on in the website (yes I did check), it says that “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities in Healthcare are projected to grow by 34.5% between 2002 and 2012!

Earn your Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Healthcare without giving up your job or your life. Research the Internet’s leading Healthcare universities!

So what I think is that as far as RNs are concerned, this is a method of getting a higher degree if you are already an RN. At least that’s what I hope. But someone reading this, who has also been looking at websites like Discover Nursing which present the glorification of Nightingalehood like you’ve never before seen, view this ad and think, “Golly gee, not only is nursing a glorious career in which I get to help people and never get my spiffy white soiled, I can do it all online. I don’t have to go to class, or go near patients, and better yet, the ad says that I may even be able to do in within 10 months!”

I imagine it’s disappointing for someone to find out that they can’t get an RN solely over the Internet, and that it will take longer than 10 months–although some of these experts in their pursuit of the factory produced nurse (to solve the shortage, you know), are clammoring for shorter nursing schools. And maybe the cyber-trained nurse is also in their line of vision.

Now, see what nurses are capable of. I don’t know if Florence Nightingale would be proud of this woman, or those who think nurses should be docile little mice even if their life is at stake, but I commend this woman. She defended herself, didn’t whimper and shirk, and ultimately saved her own life.

The fact that she’s an ER nurse may have something to do with it. Loonies come into the ER all the time, and since hospital security generally sucks, ER personnel realize that they have to defend themselves. So maybe she did pick up some street smarts on the job!

From the Seattle Times:

PORTLAND — When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.

Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery. Investigators initially said they believed the dead man — Edward Dalton Haffey — was burglarizing Kuhnhausen’s home.

But after an investigation, police say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband — Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr., 58 — to kill her.

Really, I didn’t think there could be a government agency quite as inept and corrupt as the FDA, but the USDA is huffing and puffing and closing in on them. This agency doesn’t even try to hide its tight connection to the food industry, and its total disdain for the consumer and the laws designed to protect us. Like the FDA, it is time for the USDA to be disassembled, incinerated, and put back together as a legitimate and trustworthy and UNBIASED agency.

Here is the latest in their antics. It is enough to make you puke.

USDA SAYS SHUT UP AND EAT YOUR FRANKENRICE

The USDA has finally reacted to the contamination of the U.S. rice supply by an unapproved, genetically engineered variety of rice created by the Bayer Corporation. Three weeks ago, it was discovered that Bayer’s mutant rice, gene-spliced to survive heavy doses of a powerful herbicide called glufosinate, had contaminated U.S. long grain rice stocks. The USDA admitted it had “no idea” how extensive the contamination was.

Meanwhile Japan has banned all U.S. rice imports, while the EU is rejecting U.S. imports
that test positive for contamination. The rice industry has been in a state of upheaval, with rumors of a massive market recall spreading across the country. This week, the USDA announced its plan of action: instead of recalling this illegal, and potentially unsafe rice, it is working with Bayer to fast-track the approval process.

“Illegal, potentially hazardous rice in grain bins, on supermarket shelves, in cereal, beer, baby foods, and all rice products. It should be a no-brainer. Recall this stuff to make sure no one eats it,” said Joseph Mendelson, Legal Director of the Center for Food Safety. “Instead, USDA plans to rush through ‘market approval’ of a genetically engineered rice
that Bayer itself decided was unfit for commerce. Why? To free Bayer from liability.”

Does this boggle the intelligence or what? Do they really think that pushing through the approval process is going to make this rice “safe?” Or do they think that their seal of approval is going to pacify Japan and Europe into buying this garbage? Are they on the same planet as the rest of us?

And of course, the FDA doesn’t think that genetically engineered foods need to be labeled. That might “confuse” the consumer.

Read the entire story at Organic consumer

I really planned on getting back to my posting and blogging, but as soon as I had free time today….I had to spend it figuring out taxes. Yes, taxes. For the self-emplyed, April 15 comes four times a years. Of course, employees have taxes taken out of their paycheck all year round, but it somehow seems mor epainless that way.

If I was more organized, I would be keeping careful records of how much money I made this quarter, and have all of my calculations done based on my 2005 taxes as far as deductions go, etc. In other words, I would have a pretty good estimate f how much I needed to pay today. But such is not the case with me. While I was easily able to find all of my pay stugs (I think), I had to figure out how much I earned and then I couldn’t find my 2005 taxes that my accountant so nicely sent me…and even if I did, I wouldn’t have had the patience to figure it out, as the clocked ticked away and I ended up having to rush to the post office to mail my taxes before closing.

So here I am, blogging an entry, but not what I planned. There’s been so many good stories to blog about, like how I spoke with someone at a hospital in a metropolitan area that has a waiting list of nurses who want to work there. There are plenty of other places to work, which adds strength to my theory that there’s only a shortage of desirable work places and not nurses.

Even though I haven’t been posting as regularly as before, my spammers haven’t forgotten me. I keep forgetting to check and clear the decks, so this evening I had 887 fresh and juicy spams just waiting for my delete key. Bleech, they keep getting more and more bizarre.

Oh, I am missing blog days. I should be back on schedule this week, hopefully. So much to write, say, and so little time.

I feel that I must post the obligatory reminder that today is the fifth year anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center twin towers.

Iwas actually going to write a lot more about it, particularly how I think that some people really need to get a life and realize that this was not the most tragic event in the history of Planet earth. And I am talking about people who were far removed from the disaster, who didn’t know anyone working at the WTC, didn’t lose any loved ones or even anyone they were remotely acquainted with, or have never even set foot in NY.

I’m not being harsh because I well realize how tragic this event was–as I knew many people who were working that day at the WTC. It is not an event to be forgotten, but when I see people posting things on bulliten boards, such as that they foolish querying an editor today because it is the anniversary of such a tragedy, or apologizing for having to get work done instead of sitting in a dark room and replaying scenes of airplanes tearing a building apart–well, sorry, but I’m missing something.

I don’t know, maybe there’s something wrong with me. In the days immediately following 9/11, I was so upset that I began to feel physically sick. It was so bad that I just retreated from the news and the world with a stack of novels for about two weeks. I got to see the huge hole left behind about 5 months later when I was in NY, and it did send shivers through me.

But five years down the road, I’m more concerned about the genocide that is still taking place in the Congo, where about 5 million people have died since the late 1990s. I still feel sad for the thousands of people of Iran and Pakistan, whose were killed during devastating earthquakes over the past two years. The victims of the tsunami certainly dwarf 9/11. The ongoing war in Iraq, the Vietnam of the Middle East. To me, 9/11 is an event that has taken its place in the annals of man’s inhumanity against man and against the planet.

And what really upsets me is that despite all this talk about the war on terror, and yadda yadda yadda, airport security is no safer than it was five years ago. The same undertrained minimum wage employees are still doing baggage scanning, instead of using well paid and highly trained experts to screen people. Now, wouldn’t that make sense?

But hey, I can’t take my shampoo on board anymore, and I can’t soothe my parched hands with cream while in flight. Now I know that it is going to make air travel a whole lot safer, don’t you think? That mommy can’t take diaper rash balm on board anymore, or that granny can’t carry her prune juice on the plane.