Bushy Ironies: $33M to Protect Cows from Terrorism
As Wired notes, the Dept of Homeland Security is ponying up $33M to combat terrorist attacks against our crops and livestock.
Strangely absent are any mention of the Republican attacks on food safety rules at the behest of Big Meat and Agri businesses. Food-borne illness kills 5,000 each year and sickens 17 million. Osama would wet himself making those kind of numbers!
In 2001, the Bush administration reversed USDA regulations requiring testing for salmonella and E.coli in meat fed to 27M school children. This March 2002 open letter to the Prez from consumer watchdog groups is especially relevant, noting “even as bioterrorism concerns highlight weaknesses in our existing food-safety programs, key initiatives designed to ensure the safety of meat are languishing and existing safeguards are being eroded.”
Protections of drinking water from pesticide run-off are under attack.
Tip of the iceburg. Look no further than Eric Scholosser’s Fast Food Nation. That book impressed upon me this wonderful phrase, handy while at any MickeyD’s: Acceptable levels of fecal contamination.
Karl Rove Re-election Plan On Track: Saddam Captured Alive
Seriously, is anyone really surprised by this?
Bush verbally masturbated for 45 minutes declaring “a dark era is over.” The streets of Bagdad erupt in jubilation. “Operation Red Dawn!” Natch, CNN’s sucking up the spin like a wet sponge. Lordy.
OK, so am I the only one who thinks we’ve had ol’ Saddam all along and he’d been shoved in some dank dark hole until the Bushies deemed it most “newsworthy?”
The unibomber-look is a nice touch, though.
Now, about that pesky democracy thing…
“Economy” USB Hub Kills Baby Steve?
So I bought this Belkin 7-port USB hub today at CompUSA, as it seemed to be a steal at $39.99 with a $10 mail-in rebate.
At the register, it rings up as “BELKIN ECONOMY HUB” which causes me some concern — I don’t remember what was “economical” (read: hobbled functionality) about it, other than it’s cheap price.
I get home, install it and plug everything in. All’s well.
But then I notice this wee-little warning sticker attached to the back of the package: “WARNING! This product contains chemicals, including lead, known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. Wash hands after handling.”
I race for the bathroom at lightning speed… wash and repeat. Wash and repeat. Huge sigh of relief. Then I remember that I’m not pregnant! But anyway…
What gives? Is this some third-world edition hub they couldn’t move in Uruguay, so they’re unloading it on Americans bargain shopping in Mexican-owned big-box computer retailers?
So there it is… taunting me to touch it, rub it, and let it enlarge my colon… but no, not gonna do it!
Perhaps Belkin were the original makers of the Happy Fun Ball?
Yahoo! Groups Serious about Singles & STDs
So, um, I go to create a Yahoo! Group today for all of us that got canned yesterday in AOL’s drunken layoff orgy, and step 1 is to categorize your group… innocuous enough, right? The list is standard top-level fare (Business, Colleges, Science, etc.) until the final entry. Click the picture to enlarge.
Merry Fucking Christmas, You’re Fired!
I believe it went something like this: “AOL is realigning resources meaning you will no longer have a position with the company.”
And with that, so ended my 4 years (and 3 days) with the company.
Now I can go get a real job with a real company!
Got a few minutes?
Donate your time or money to elect Matt Gonzalez mayor of San Francisco. There’s less than week left, and this guy may actually pull it off! If you’re more accustomed to the lesser-of-two evils approach: Matt’s hair is slightly less criminal than Gavin’s.
MoveOn.org urges you to stop Bush’s looting. This time it’s $820B of your tax money in back-room corporate giveaways, monopoly media ownership, and rolling back rules regarding overtime pay.
WorkingForChange wisely suggests avoiding Wal-Mart this holiday season: “Wal-Mart engages in some of the worst labor practices in the country: paying its employees substandard wages, forcing unpaid overtime on its workers and refusing to provide affordable health insurance.” Plus, you can even send a “No presents from Wal-Mart for Festivus” e-mail to all your friends and family when you’re done. If you’re still not convinced, learn about Wal-Mart’s heavy-handed and possibly illegal behavior here in the bay area.
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