Blackspeare—Wow, do you work for them or something? You seem to be taking this very personally!

I grew up in a farming community, and, it was hard for me to see what agri-business did to small farmers as well as people and animals, the land, etc. Its just the facts. Your gm was probably talking about a time when people knew where their food came from.

I wonder if yuve ever been to a pig slaughterhouse or seen a beef cow “readied” for buthering—-there is a reason they use artificial insemination and it is not to “produce the genetic best”—it is because the animals are too fricking fat to mount one another. Dont let Bush approving artif insem. make you think otherwise. “Dirt” (which I grew up eating) is not the same as a bunch of hormones and chemicals and antibiotics.

They way those dairy cows were treated (which they showed in the FDA Senate Hearing)as they were ready to be ground up for kids lunches—-the farmers I grew up with, especially treated their dairy cows with repect, as they had grown to rely on them and trust the farmers.) They would no more stick an electric prode into the cow’s vagina than a pet’s. Most farmers I knew got out of the business.They didnt even use spent dairy cattle for meat. They have been drugged to produce too much milk,(which is bad enough) and, there is a reason that they make them “hamburger”.

Visit a slaughterhouse. It made me switch majors in college after one semester.

I dont think your suggestions are outlandish at all. But, you act like people have been saying ludicrous things here—they are probably all contributing to the problem.

But, the number of deadly cases has gone up drmatically under Dubya’s de-reg. and, his appointment of rich socialites to the FDA, as favors to his contributors.

Wow——what a bunch of rants!  Salmonella has been around for eons and only recently are we seeing people becoming sick and even dying——why!  Well, it isn’t the peanut companies fault because food has always been contaminated, but rather our obsession with cleanliness!  Today we are surrounded with excessive immunizations, regulatory prophylaxis, and a general obsession with zero risk.  The immune system needs to be challenged and when it isn’t you create a weak population that will succumb to what should not be a problem like the deaths from hamburgers not too long ago.  That’s why my grandmother would say, “A little dirt is good for you!”

We had a speaker on Womens Issues at a Sault Saint Marie PowWow several years back….explaining WHY our young men and women are maturing so fast…..Growth Hormones in the MEATS FROM FAST FOODS is one cause….So our young women are starting menses at 9 [and even younger] and growing breasts…..And our young men are going in to puberty before they learn to control their emotions…..
Just goes to show….No one cares what is in the food as long as someone is buying it….Hey if they[PTBs] lose A FEW-So What????There are more being replaced every day-Can you spell S_O_Y_L_E_N_T G_R_E_E_N?

The documentary film,“Our Daily Bread”, shown on either the Sundance channel or IFC is a good example of agri-business. Some parts of it are sickening as to how fast a full grown cow is killed and butchered on the endless production line in one factory. It is subtitled in English. I watched about half of it and it made me ill.

That’s why I grow what I can and try to buy less of this mass produced infected foodstuff from the stores, which pass off questionable things as food. An example of one of these items, in the fish department of a local store a package of fish stated it was made of unknown byproducts. Now who, if they read the package, would by that and serve it to their family and themselves?

What I want to say is, from a long time ago when groups of people, mostly men, got to gether to conduct ‘business’, corporations have come all the way to a deliniation of being a business to being considered an individual, like a real person but with special priviledges. Back in reagan’s terms, maybe earlier, the phrase or label, commercial free speech snuck into the rhetoric and now it has become so prevalent that far too many dopes in this country believe that the ‘corporate individual’ are the same as them and protected the same as any citizen, but even more so. I cannot help but think of Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ when I read about these things like the peanut scandal and how by secretly changing the rules, that the ‘rules’ don’t pertain in certain situations, those that would hamper the ‘corporate individual’. Well, I wish that some conscientious lawyer or judge would put the 1st amendment rights back to the people only, instead of giving the ability of corporations to be protected as such also. I have read that that was why the citizens Bill of Rights was created, was to protect them from unscrupulous buisnesses(snake oil salesmen, charlatan,etc)from ‘hoodwinking’ people into doing something they would not do(buy, act or say) if they knew what the real deal was about. Back then, being taken for all their money mostly.
But today there is also the ability of of a corporation NOT to be held responsible for their inadvertant or deliberate cause of a disaster such as the big boys at Peanut central hope not to have to be held accountable for and most likely will not be with the help of the people we elected by lobbyists to watch over actions like these. TORT reform and other such legislation passed by the late neocon government that protected those precious ‘corporate individuals’ at our expense help to shield those scooping and sucking up all those dollars.
And of course, a big problem here is the centalization of anything that was local such as farming, has turned into not just a national network but that all too familiar and devestating global network which has the all too easy tendency to become corrupted and the end buyers not of first consideration. I also believe that this ‘centralization’ is causation of one of the most damaging aspects of human life these days, pollution. Too many diseases of ‘modern man’ can be traced back to the beginning of the agricultural age which would also be the beginning of a centralization of sorts, but now with pollution of the air, land, mass production of livestock and water, far too many other illnesses and unnatural changes in human physiological processes are becoming more and more prevalent.
Corporate america are making decisions and taking actions to prolong the dominance of the people that they have enjoyed so much and most likely will continue to do so until, what, I guess the world crashes from their agendas.
I think Naomi Klein’s ‘The Shock Doctrine’ is very informative on this and encourage everyone who has not read it to find a copy and do so. And here are 2 links to a current Klein diatribe worth the read:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/05-12

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/06

But even then I don’t see or hear much at all about the number one biggest problem facing the people of this world, FAR FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE.

troublesum—I see your point. It is true, especially in the good ole USA. I know people would say, “its true everywhere”...maybe, but the uS has an especially harsh brand of money worship, in my opinion.. It is much worse than any other country I’ve been to (I havent been to that many, except, western countries)

I didnt mean you when I talked of Evangelicals. I meant, like, Bush…I think that our govt puts WAY too much emphasis on religion, all the while talking about “fundamentalists”. I think that bush did organized religion much more harm than good, dont you?

Good info., Louise. I started college majoring in Animal Agriculture. (lol—I laugh to think what the hell I thought i was going to do with it—only did one semsester). But, the things I saw, heard, smelled and felt, were HORRIBLE! It is not “farming” anymore. It is agri-businses.  Naomi Klein talked about it some in “The Shock Doctrine”, mostly in reference to the very intelligent pigs…feeding animals to animals is another repugnant practice. Girls go through puberty younger and yuonger—I think that it is related to hormones. Cancer rates are up where they use pesticides.

Who really knows what all this crap in our food is doing to out systems long term? The new agri-business people , who bought out all the old farmers dont care—they just want to make enough to buy organic food and Kobi beef grown elsewhere!

For some reason after I finished reading these comments, the question popped into my head - does Limbaugh get down on his knees and pray every day? Which was followed by an effort to make that mental image and - somehow I couldn’t. [Sorry Rush. Don’t mean to be judgemental just because you are.] But then I really don’t care.

But maybe all those who quake in fear because they think prayer is under attack, should. Because if it is, it’s the phonies and the hypocrites who use God for personal gain that are the threat. And we all know who they are. Cigar chomping hate-mongers who make enough money peddling lies to afford a private jet for starters.

We’ve all lived with Salmonella and Ecola all our lives. Two of the most common bacterias that can be deadly or harmless, depending on whether or not things are handled properly. Our eagerness to have everything mass produced and ready on demand for our consumption has placed us all in a position of dependence. How many folks out there know how to make peanut butter? How many folks out there know how to properly handle raw food? How many folks out there know there is a point in time when peanuts are raw?

Well the natural inclination is to not bother learning because it’s all done for us.

I just learned while I was gone a house in the area burned down and one of the family’s children lost his life. So sad. Even when parents do everything right, tragedy can happen. And maybe that’s the lesson we all need to remember. We can protect ourselves only to the degree we are able. We cant control earthquakes, tornadoes or hurricanes, and we cant sit in the warehouse where our food is prepared. Which of course is how the FDA first came to be.

But somewhere along the way there has been a major disconnect between protecting the consumer and producing bigger, better and more. Maybe it’s time we overhaul the FDA, redefine their job descriptions and hire a few good scientists!

“Three hundred thousand direct cases of pesticide poisoning are reported each year in the United States, with approximately 20 fatalities, mostly children - farmers and farm workers have a significantly higher rate of cancer than do non-farmers - studies suggest pesticides may be linked to Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s disease - exposure of non-farm residents to harmful levels of pesticides increases.”

“Another growing public health concern is heavy use of antibiotics in animal feedlots - the growing ability of deadly bacteria to resist the antibiotics doctors use is a public health challenge. It’s estimated, organisms resistant to antibiotics already increase healthcare-related costs in the United States by $30 billion per year. Already responsible for many deaths, the problem grows as strains of disease become resistant to more and more antibiotics, leaving fewer or no antibiotics that work.”

“Most animal antibiotics are used to promote animal growth, not to treat illness, and probably accounts for 70 percent of total antibiotic use in the country - this use is not designed to kill all bacteria, so bacteria becomes stronger and is likely to generate resistant bacteria. Animal agriculture has been linked to antibiotic resistant salmonella, ecola, enteroccous, streptococcus and pneumonia bacteria. Scientists believe that antibiotic resistant bacteria in animals can transfer their resistance to bacteria that cause disease in humans.”

Understanding how all levels of agriculture are related, or overlap, it’s not a stretch to connect increased deadly bacterias being found in food prepared for human consumption. Of course there is no excuse for sending out contaminated food. But at what point in time will these bacterias totally overcome the systems in place? Are we already on the edge of that calamity?

KDelphi,
My point is that the markets and the banks are God for some people.  They are trying to pacify the money god and make him work for them again.  They are having a hard time of it.  The money god is a stubborn god.  I don’t believe that it is possible to live without a god.  Everyone has a god.  “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”

Does anyone know who Pres. Obama is replacing the FDA batty socialites with?

Outraged—This is so blatent,,,(the link you gave) The teachers should be fired.

I hope that all of these murderers go to prison. It is becoming “scary” to put almost anything in yur mouth, your child’s, or your elderly relatives. Cant afford or dont want meat, and, cant afford organics? Here, salmonella peanut butter.

It was also fund in MRE, used in disaster areas.

troublesum—I dont know how the focus on greed proves the existence of god, but, I will quote the Bible too, “It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven”. (Paraphrase). But, todays neo-con Bible thumpers like to leave that part out, and, misinterpret, “the poor will always be among us” and the blow up that Christ had at the Temple over money changers. They interpret, “I came to give you life in abundance” as “I came to make Jerry Falwell rich”. It is also the chronic excuse for “keeping the Jews in the Holy Land” (until the Rapture, of course, when they “decide or die”!)

As an agnostic, I have no problem with people ocassionally referring to lessons learned from the teachings of one whom I regard as probably a famous Rabbi. I only have a problem with it when , it becomes the focus of every discussion a person has, even when it has nothing to do with the topic. It is just not able to be proven,either way so,it leads to nothing. Maybe they “cant help it” because they are obssessed, but, it is a hiccup away from Evangelism, and, I think we’ve all had about enough of that, at least when it comes to politics.

These things happen because money is our God.  Whatever is done for profit is ok, not to worry.  At the risk of annoying the atheists here, the entire political/economic situation in the US can be summed up in one sentence from the Bible: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”  How can they say that there is no God when the attention of the nation is rivited on THE ECONOMY, THE MARKETS, THE STIMULUS, THE BANKS.

“This claimed “mistake” is part of a deeply rooted racist, rightwing, ideological portion of those in positions of authority in this community.

Why am I telling you this…. oh, I just felt the need.”
~*~
Outraged,
I believe you. And, I think this reality of the ‘mistake’ being part of a deeply rooted racist, RADICAL right-wing ideological element who gains authority, (and this is in MANY communities) is a good argument for home schooling. (there are actually other good arguments for it as well).
However, at the end of the day, (and in the wider view) we have to ultimately fight to take our own public system back, to the extent that these ‘mistakes’ no longer occur in our collective resources. Unless we finally eliminate this element of ideology from our COMMON and/or SHARED social infrastructure, it’s like paying the bully everyday, until we’re just too intimidated or broke, and so we just don’t bother to go to school or wherever it is anymore. It means they win, and we loose, because a more superior education can be obtained from a community based and funded effort than what we can deliver at the home-based model. It means that they’ve scared us away from using our own resources that we’re paying for.

I have experienced this same thing, (and very recently) in my own community. First, I was MORTIFIED to find election and other paraphernalia in yards and windows of the community, in favor of Prop 8…that very despicable and illegal legislation that must now be overturned at the State Supreme Court level – AGAIN! (I was even more shocked when I found out my own sister had voted for the thing. We had quite a row about it, because she can’t separate the ideology from the law, and the ideology is basically WRONG.)

I was mortified and SHOCKED, because I honestly thought I had a pretty good sense of the political temperament in my own community. The problem is that somehow, without my ‘noticing’, the mentality had ‘changed’ and in mostly imperceptible ways.

As I would later discover, (since I’d obviously ‘missed’ what was right under my nose) there had been a huge influx of Mormons into the community, which accounted for all of this massive action against anything that would recognize homosexuals as equal humans. THIS ‘change’ was all the more amazing because this part of the community, (at least for the past decade or so) has been among the most LGBT sympathetic around. (I just learned that acronym as part of my return to academia. It wasn’t ‘used’ in social discourse in Texas, as you can probably imagine, since homosexuality is a ‘sin’ in their ‘science’ books.)

So I said all of that just to say that these (racist radical right-wing) mentalities are held by many, and while they probably can’t be changed, they can’t ever be allowed to have authority. People like Limbaugh are poisonous to the public discourse, and they have to be marginalized. We don’t want those kinds of ‘mistakes’ happening in our schools or other public institutions anymore than we want mass murderers loose on our campuses. And no, we’re not gonna hide at home to avoid them. They need to be exposed, (and by ALL of us) for the racist anti-Americans that they are, and know that we won’t put up with it.

Anyway, thanks for telling me. I really DO get it, seeing as how I’ve been a ‘target’ (I refuse to say ‘victim’) of such mentalities most of my life, just for being a woman of color with a voice. Indeed, they DO shut us down, but I’ve managed to keep popping back up so far.

In China they execute for this.

Murder is Murder. The day will come when a prosecutor has the guts to charge them.

Re: cyrena

I know this is off topic, but check out this story from the Chicago Tribune.  (This occurred DURING the inauguaration)

“Edison Middle School spokeswoman Amanda Brooker said the radio played for the school Tuesday was tuned to a station carrying the event via the conservative pundit’s show. She said in a written statement the station was changed once officials realized “the form of the commentary.”

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/jan/21/news/chi-ap-wi-obamabroadcast-li

Do you “buy” what they’re selling….?

I am a HUGE supporter of public education.  However, when we see “mistakes” of this blantantly obvious nature, attempting to skew impressionable young people, it has to be taken very seriously.

This is the MOST PRESSING REASON some of us have opted for home-schooling.  I attended schools in this community during my high school years.  My experience says that this WAS NO MISTAKE.  In fact, it is par for the course.  Don’t get me wrong, there were and are those who are a part of this district who are not of this “bent”.  They are shut out and shut down very quickly.

This claimed “mistake” is part of a deeply rooted racist, rightwing, ideological portion of those in positions of authority in this community.

Why am I telling you this…. oh, I just felt the need.

Well, there IS big trouble in Peanutville, and hopefully in all the rest of the Corporate PrivateSectorVille.

Because, according to the piece, the Feds are doing a criminal investigation into the company. Now we only have a few hundred thousand more of them to go. They’ve been getting away with ‘murder for profit’ for decades, especially the biggest polluters of air and water.