Dog Food Recall Goes International: 5,000+ Brands of Pet Food Now Affected

The pet food recall nightmare is continuing to unfold, and it has gotten worse and worse.

A careful review of all the current brands under recall at the FDA web site shows that over 5,000 individual brands of pet food have been recalled.

Now word is getting out that other countries have the same problem that we do: contaminated wheat gluten was exported overseas; it may have been fed to other animals, such as pigs, cows and other farm animals, which made it possible for contagions to enter into the human food chain as well.

The Chinese clearly aren't up to manufacturing food products for export; our FDA also isn't up to intercepting inbound poisons that made their way into the food chain from countries like China.

I think this shows that while we should be concerned about avian flu, we should be more worried about contaminated food, which has the ability to knock down many more people than bird flu would/does...and much faster too.

This definitely needs more attention from the government.

Airing of Killer's Rants Leads to Backlash Against Media

The Virginia Tech community reacted with outrage at the airing of a series of disturbing videos, photos and writings of the perpetrator of Monday's massacre on the VT campus. Some families pulled out of appearing on the Today Show to protest the callous airing of the rant.

And ALL the news organizations played parts of the video; shame on ALL of them for giving this killer air time.

I'm in total agreement with Dr. Michael Warner, who said in an interview "...just listen, if you can take Imus off the air, you can certainly keep [Cho] from having his own morning show."

All these analysts should close their mouths and quit trying to analyze this lunatic killer. They're just adding insult to injury when they play back parts of the trash he mailed to the media to help explain why this evil human being did what he did.

This really sucks.

Virginia Tech Massacre: Remembering the Lost and the Injured

Memorial services were held today for students and professors who lost their lives in yesterday's mind-blowing and horrific attack on the Virginia Tech community.

All of this brings memories of Columbine back anew.

It's all so sad and meaningless. Thirty-two people were murdered by a madman; it emerged that a fellow Virginia Tech student was responsible for the heavy loss of life.

Thinking of all the victims and their families, as well as everyone at VT. May God be with them all.

USS Pueblo Still Intact and Being Used By North Korea for Anti-American Propaganda Purposes

North Korean officials took a surprised U.S. delegation aboard a captured U.S. Navy spy ship on Monday, saying it represented "...continued U.S. aggression against North Korea."

Governor Bill Richardson said it was a pure propaganda move on the part of the North Koreans.

The USS Pueblo was captured in January 1968; it's crew was held for eleven months before being released by North Korea. They kept the ship and have used it for "anti-American education" ever since.

North Korea has dangled returning the ship to the U.S. Navy in exchange for a high-level visit from the U.S. Secretary of State, but that has been flatly refused by the U.S. government. The U.S. Navy still has the Pueblo on the books as an active unit, and does want it back, but the current level of tension between the U.S. and North Korea has made it impossible to facilitate a transfer.

The Pueblo is the only U.S. warship under the control of a foreign power, and was the first ship to be captured since 1941, when invading Japanese forces captured the USS Wake in Shanghai's harbor.

Duke Rape Case Dropped: Critical Mistakes by Former Prosecutor Plus Witness Changing Story Guaranteed This Outcome

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

The Duke lacrosse rape case totally (and finally) collapsed today when the North Carolina Attorney General dropped all charges against three lacrosse players from Duke University, clearing the way for the formerly accused to get their lives back on track.

This case should never have been brought.

The former prosecutor didn't interview the "victim", released statements to the media which looked like he was prosecuting the case on TV, violated police line-up procedures, ignored DNA evidence which pointed away from the accused players, and ignored the victim changing her story repeatedly.

The former prosecutor is facing disciplinary action from the state bar related to his conduct during this case. They need to make an example out of him to discourage other "borderline" prosecutors from this kind of conduct.

Prosecuting someone for political gain and not for breaking the law is a terrible abuse of power.

Powers That Be Announce That Gas Will Be $2.75 Per Gallon Over Summer: THANKS FOR NOTHING!

The powers that be in the oil industry have delivered news from on high that gas prices will be $2.75 per gallon over the summer. Some are saying it will be much higher than that.

Oh, joy of joys.

39,000 Pets Get Sick or Die From Food Contamination

It's much worse than many thought.

According to a major chain of veterinary clinics, some 39,000 dogs and cats have gotten sick or died from eating recalled pet foods across the nation.

And every day, it seems like there are updates on the FDA and Menu Foods web sites announcing more and more recalls.

The latest expansion of the recall was announced just before Easter; contaminated wheat gluten is suspected of being the culprit. It's hard to believe that this recall has affected over a hundred brands of pet food; that it's taken this long for these companies to react to a critical situation isn't helping at all.

This has been going on for over a friggin' month now. And there are STILL no answers. China announced that it was looking into the contamination on it's end, but the damage is already done, leaving families heartbroken.

Too little, too late.

MSNBC's Don Imus in Big Trouble: So What Else is New?

Many of the news channels have been following the antics of Don Imus today, for calling a women's basketball team a racist term, which I will not post here.

CBS and MSNBC announced that they were suspending the Imus show for two weeks as a disciplinary action.

I have a question...why did CBS and MSNBC have this man on the air at all, given his prior controversies? He's been referred to as the "Howard Stern of intelligent people," though he's had a public feud with Stern for years--in particular a vicious exchange on the air in 2003.

The man is a lightning rod for controversy.

Yet the two companies had him on both radio and on TV in simulcast.

Imus went on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio program this morning (a huge mistake), but made little headway in calming the raging inferno, as Sharpton's thirst for revenge neutralized his efforts. Sharpton's now calling for a boycott of all advertisers who advertise on the Imus show.

Later on in the day, the networks suspended Imus.

Imus's comments WERE way over the line, but Sharpton's handling of the situation on his show made the situation worse; what happened to forgiveness of others?

All Sharpton wanted was to get Imus fired, or better yet, to have Imus sign a resignation letter in his presence and on the air. It didn't happen, so he decided to add his two cents (and more) to the controversy.

There's no winner in this controversy; not CBS, MSNBC, Imus, Sharpton, or the people who were insulted by the racist comments that Imus made.

Congress Keeps Overstepping It's Constitutional Boundaries: Pelosi Trip Was Most Recent Example

The shredding of the Constitution continues.

Now that the Bush Administration has been forced to stop doing it, Congress has started doing it themselves.

Congress needs to be reminded that the White House is in charge of day-to-day diplomacy with foreign nations. There is one branch of government that carries on diplomacy with other nations--not two with 536 Presidents (535 in Congress plus the real one in the White House).

Congress can ratify or reject treaties, vote on foreign aid appropriations and regulate commerce with other governments. There is no provision in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution for Congress to conduct foreign relations.

Article 2 Section 3 of the Constitution provides for the President to receive Ambassadors of foreign nations (and to conduct diplomacy) on behalf of the entire nation.

Pelosi's trip violated the spirit of the Constitution; but all it really did was showcase her grandstanding. If the Democrats want their foreign policy to be paramount, they have to win the Presidency in an election first. Not before.

Pelosi Made a Fool Out of Herself on Her Mideast Trip: Her Lack of Understanding of Israeli/Syrian Relations Really Showed

I am of the opinion that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent trip to the Middle East was a unmitigated fiasco.

House Speaker Pelosi not only carried our nasty internal politics onto the world stage for all to see, but her short-lived foray into international relations proved that she needs to practice her listening skills, her sensitivity to the needs of our allies, and the way she expresses her views to foreign leaders.

Not only did she misunderstand Israel's point of view, but she didn't listen to them, then misrepresented their views (publicly) to the Syrian government. She did make a clarification later on, but it was too little, too late.

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert issued a statement and corrected our wayward goodwill ambassador.

Nice going, Speaker Pelosi. Next time, stay home and run the House--as you were elected to do. And that goes for Congressional Republicans, too, who have met with Syria's leadership on less-publicized trips recently.

O'Reilly and Rivera GO AT IT Over Illegal Immigration and Drunk Driving

WOW!!

Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo Rivera really went at it on the O'Reilly Factor during Thursday's edition. Rivera was insisting that the story at hand was about drunk driving, while O'Reilly felt that the subject was illegal aliens breaking laws.

It turned into an all-out SCREAMING match. Both feel very strongly about their positions, and both said that there were no hard feelings afterward.

Spectacular, and sad.

I do think that Rivera was more correct about it being a drunk driving case, though O'Reilly's position on illegal aliens breaking laws and officials turning a blind eye was also valid.

Drunk driving cuts across all ethnic lines, and two teenagers are dead because someone (who happened to be a drunk illegal alien) got behind the wheel of a car who had no business doing so. What a mess.

Iranian President Should Have Apologized to British Navy Members For Waylaying Them, Not The Other Way Around: SICKENING

News hit this morning that Iran was releasing it's hostages that it had taken nearly two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown receiving the gratitude of the captive British sailors and marines, one at a time. It was a SICKENING display of manipulation on international television.

Ahmadinejad should have been the one apologizing for invading Iraqi waters and waylaying a British boarding party that was doing it's job under a United Nations mandate.

Sick and wrong.

British/Iranian Crisis is Latest Excuse for Oil Prices to Increase: Oil Speculators At It Again

Let's see where increased oil prices fit into this latest Persian Gulf controversy:

1. British Navy intercepts cargo ship to inspect it in disputed Iraqi/Iranian waters...
2. Iran seizes 15 British sailors and marines who were the boarding party and take them to Tehran for questioning....
3. Britain and Iran exchange angry words....
4. Reports of U.S. and Iranian troops exchanging fire inside Iraqi territory. U.S. troops retreat out of fear of being taken hostage....
5. Iran is isolated from the international community...again.
6. Bush, Blair and Iran's terrorist president start the blame game anew.
   

How much has the oil supply fallen as the result of the British/Iranian row? NOT A DROP.

Has the Strait of Hormuz been closed to international shipping? NOPE.

Has the Strait been mined? NOPE.

Has Iran threatened to sink any tankers? NOPE.

Any refineries set ablaze? NOPE.

Any oil production facilities damaged or destroyed, leading to a drop in oil production? NOPE.

Any net effect whatsoever on the available oil supply? NONE.

Any tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, or other natural disasters that could explain the price increases? NOPE.

Hmmm....

Are the oil speculators worried? Yep.

So, in spite of the fact that there is no decrease in oil output from the ongoing feud between Britain and Iran, and the oil supply is unaffected, the price for a barrel of oil has gone way up again.

The oil speculators and oil companies should pay for the artificial increases that they've created WITHOUT charging more at the pump. The British/Iranian issues are irrelevant to the cost of a barrel of oil, unless the missiles start to fly. Enough of the excuses, already!