Wal-Mart Gets Slammed In Europe

When it comes to carbon footprints, there is no doubt about it; Wal-Mart leaves a GIANT dirty path on our planet.

In fact, "the company publicly acknowledged in 2006 that its global operations created 220 million tons of greenhouse gases every year...", according to a new report released in Europe yesterday by a large coalition who are severely criticizing Wal-Mart's so-called "sustainability programme."

"Wal-Mart's 'cheap' imports are not cheap if you consider the estimated two million tons of annual carbon emissions associated with shipping from China to US ports, pollution from inefficient non-U.S. trucking fleets, and the health impacts of port pollution on local communities," the groups stated.

... "Wal-Mart can change to more efficient light bulbs, but that doesn't change its carbon footprint or the enormous social consequences of its globally unsustainable business model," stated report contributor Ruben Garcia of Global Exchange. "If we look at its practices internationally, Wal-Mart has used its market power to cut costs at the expense of workers and the environment across the developing world."

There is one quote in the new report that I humbly believe echoes the growing tidal wave of sentiment against factory farming -- and I quote:

"There is no action we take, as consumers, that has a more profound impact on the environment than our choice of food, and Wal-Mart's dependence on imports and unsustainable factory farming is highly destructive,"

[Source: FoodNavigator news article]

Temporary Hiatus

Sorry for delays in posting. I have to take a brief break because, frankly, I'm swamped right now.

Writing clients, plus my second screenplay, plus a short novella for the NaNoWriMo competition this month... all have me buried in work and words.

For the month of November I'll be turning "comments" off because I simply have no time to moderate them all. Plus, there are a few commenters not following the rules (which I've stated several times but which they choose to ignore). I'll rewrite terms to make it a bit more clear and turn comments back on when I return to regular blogging in December.

Meanwhile, my posts will be quite sporadic over the next 4 weeks. Sorry about that.

I'll leave you this weekend with a few quotes to ponder:

"Many of the things you can count, don't count. Many of the things you can't count, really count." Albert Einstein

"The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." Winston Churchill

"What's interesting about a writer is not himself, but what he manages to see outside of himself." John Updike

"The human physiology is part of the cosmic physiology. Every rhythm of the universe therefore naturally has an effect on the individual and vice versa." Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

"In this inconceivably enormous universe, we can never run out of energy or matter. But we can easily run out of brains." From the book, Profiles of the Future, by Arthur C. Clarke

About World Food Day October 16-2007

Not sure if you are aware of this, but World Food Day is October 16, 2007. Here's what's being planned over in Europe and other parts of the world;

The FAO is flagging events taking place around the world to mark World Food Day next week, with more than 150 countries organising events around the theme The Right to Food. (further details here)

Here at home in the USA, there will be a teleconference broadcast live from Washington, DC, carried by DISH Network by tape-delayed basis.

Here is a snippet of the theme/focus the USA will be presenting:

The links between climate change, hunger and poverty will be the focus of the 2007 teleconference.

Three international leaders -- Suzanne Hunt, independent consultant, currently dividing her time among the Natural Resources Devense Council and the Global Bioenergy Partnership, Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, Research Scientist and Leader of the Climate Impacts Group at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Dr. Stephen H. Schneider, Stanford University professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and founder and editor of the Interdisciplinary journal, "Climate Change", -- will discuss the many crosscutting issues of global climate change and the potentially disastrous consequences, especially for millions of poor and chronically undernourished people.

The overwhelming majority of the world's climate scientists are convinced that the looming crisis is caused primarily by "humankind's activities" and will require immediate and farsighted action by all nations, rich and poor.

In addition to the guest panelists there will be a live uplink from the World Food Prize ceremonies and cameo comments from other experts.

Visit www.worldfooddayusa.org for further details, plus links to handouts and more.

The High Cost of Low Price

By now, a lot of people the world over have seen the movie, "WALMART: The High Cost of Low Price" so I won't go into all the details here.

A lot of people are saying, and I humbly agree, that even Sam Walton would be disappointed to see what has become of retail stores across America -- including Wal-Mart.

Think about this a moment ...as you stroll down the aisles in any retail superstore these days, how many items can you find that are Made In The USA?

As if 21.7 million pounds of burger being recalled were not enough to shake things up, the ongoing recalls from "that other" corner on supply are pushing the threat level to public health significantly higher. Even Boy Scout badges are being recalled, for heaven's sake! (see this story - Scouts Not Prepared for Lead Badges)

Meanwhile, legislation right here at home seems to be bent on lining the pockets of the profiteers ...and to heck with public health and safety altogether... or at least, that's how it appears to me.

The manure bill designed (IMHO) to protect large industrial farms is bad enough, but did you see the mercury thing? (learn more here)

And just wait till you find out what's going on with almonds. The new pasteurization laws put in place have more than a few people upset. I'll quote William Campbell Douglass II, M.D. on that story as follows:

But perhaps the biggest hit will be taken by the smaller almond operations. Truth be told, even though all of the problems originated with the biggest almond industries, this little piece of legislation could spell the end of the line for organic and small-time almond operations. The minimum cost of the pasteurization equipment is $500,000 - a hefty price that not many smaller businesses can afford. Shipping the almonds off to be pasteurized has its own road bumps, not the least of which includes higher prices tied up in transportation costs.

This is an awful lot of fuss, especially considering the fact that nuts are not likely to pose a threat in and of themselves. It's when manure or other fecal matter gets transferred to the crops that contamination can occur. A better solution is one that would regulate the manmade carelessness that's the source of all these problems to begin with. But with today's Band-aid mentality, the likelihood of that happening is almost nil.

Yeah, there's that "perfectly safe manure (NOT)" sliding it's way through our food supply again.

By the way, in case you didn't know it, propylene oxide has been banned in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union. The pasteurization method the FDA is recommending requires the use of propylene oxide.

It's a recognized carcinogen. A pollution information site called Scorecard says that propylene oxide is in the top 10 percent of compounds that are hazardous to human health and to the ecosystem. In six out of twelve ranking systems, it's ranked as one of the most hazardous chemicals.

Meanwhile the Big AG groups get richer, and the rest...?

As a quick aside, if this source is correct, did you know that the top 1 per cent of Americans now accounted for 22 per cent of national wealth, compared with 9 per cent in 1970?

Go figure!

Hamburger Class I Recall - Health Risk: High

It began on Sept. 25, 2007 with a recall of 335,000 pounds of ground beef...

-- BUT --

On Sept. 29, 2007, following "an additional positive product sample reported by the New York Health Department, reported illnesses and findings from a food safety assessment conducted by FSIS at the establishment"

...the recall was expanded to include...

21,700,000 pounds of ground beef!

Yep. You read right. That's 21.7 million pounds!!

And of course, the culprit is -- AGAIN -- E. coli O157:H7

According to USDA/FSIS:

There are currently 25 illnesses under investigation in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. An investigation carried out by the New York Department of Health in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preceded the recall of Sept. 25.

One blogger writes:

E. Coli meat contamination is the result of cow sh** in your meat. Or steer sh** in your meat. Or calf sh** in your meat.

Ummm... I provided the **s for those who might be offended by the word sh**

If you have a strong stomach that can handle sh**, and you're really curious as to how so much sh** can get into so much burger, you really want to read a little history about HACCP and HIMP to find out "who pushed food safety over the cliff." Here's the link.

Don't Let Your Dingell Dangle in the dirt...

Now, if a little bit of sh** happens to splatter on some burger and people get excited enough to recall 21.7 million pounds of the stuff -- why is it ok to dump millions (or billions) of gallons of sh** all over the land?

You gotta wonder what's got into the heads of this powerful group of lobbyists pushing to make sure they aren't liable for any of their sh** ...

I'm talking about this story...

The AFBS -- oops, I mean AFBF (not) -- has joined forces with the likes of Land O' Lakes, National Chicken Council and Tyson to name a few, plus a new group calling themselves -- get this -- Farmers for Clean Air & Water Inc. -- now there's a crock of... oops, my bad.

Anyhoo... the groups above are lobbying for a Dingell (et al) bill to be pushed quickly through that takes manure (the polite word for sh**) out of the Superfund, essentially meaning they can dump their sh** without being held responsible for cleaning up the mess if/should something go wrong.

So if you happen to live downstream from a factory farm, guess what? You gotta rely on taxpayers to clean up any mess if something particularly nasty happens as a result of the farm, since the farm itself can't/won't be held accountable -- if this thing goes through.

All This For Cheap Meat?

You know, I get sooooooo tired of hearing how factory farming is so much more efficient in bringing us cheap meat (and eggs, and dairy, etc.). Cheap for the producers, maybe -- but for the taxpayers and the consumers?

Think about it...

The LA Times reported:

In the first nine months of 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced 60 recalls totaling nearly 30 million pounds of meat.

And now here we have 21.7 million in just a single recall. Add up all the other tons and tons of recalls that have been happening just over the past 24 months. I don't care how you slice it, that's not what I would call efficient by any stretch.

By the way, did you know this...?

"21.7 million pounds of ground beef just happens to be an entire year’s worth of production." According to Dr. Kirk James Murphy, M.D. If you have the stomach for it, you really gotta read his blog on this subject!

If you read through his entire article and the links leading from it, you'll soon realize that buying meat to eat these days is a total crap shoot (pun intended).

Udderly Insane?

Have you herd (pun intended) the latest news on mastitis?

What Is Bovine Mastitis?

For those who don't know what bovine mastitis is...

In dairy cows, bovine mastitis is a common bacterial disease of the mammary that causes the udder to be painful and swollen. It has been associated with overproduction of milk. Cows that are injected with rBGH are believed to be prone to mastitis.

Even so, here in the USA, many scientists believe... "The gram negative bacterium, Escherichia coli is responsible for most cases of bovine mastitis in North America."

Yes... there's that ugly E. Coli bacterium popping up again.

By now, just about everyone has heard about some strains or versions of it; particularly since it's been popping up so frequently in our food supply in recent years.

But with regards to bovine mastitis, here's something you might not have heard about:

The USDA is promoting a potentially disastrous strategy for controlling mastitis in cows that could enhance a host of other diseases and create new disease agents. Prof. Joe Cummins (link)

To fight E. coli mastitis in dairy cows, the USDA/ARS's mad scientists have been feverishly at work adultering tobacco plants to produce a CHEAP new protein (called CD14) which they say can reduce the severity of mastitis.

So, in addition to that massive tax slam on cigarette taxes, after reading the brief article at this link, we have one more reason to quit.

What else might be affected besides tobacco?

We-ell... it kinda makes you wonder if this delightful little protein has been added to your milk in recent years, doesn't it? You'll understand why after reading the article.

TTFN

Nothing Changes Until Something Changes

I get this awesome weekly newsletter that is a great success motivator. This week the subject was about change.

Nothing will change until something changes. What steps or changes will move you forward this week? What must you read or learn? What must you do, or stop doing? ...

After watching Ken Burns' new film about World War II, the writer went on to share a personal message;

I do not know the answer to terrorism or hate, but the horrors of war know no bounds. In this time of tension, let us pray that we might live together in peace and mutual respect.

In your community or corner of the world, reach out to your neighbors. Make your contribution. Share your life, your hope and your bounty. The future of our small planet depends upon it.

Now, after hearing rhumors about at least 2 small farms that the CAFOs moving into our area either tried to deceive and/or intimidate, I'm wondering how many more are out there -- silent -- afraid to speak up?

The first farm I heard about late last fall, the other farm I just heard about yesterday... even though the incidents happened quite some time ago.

Interestingly enough -- both implicated the Fair Oaks group of farms.

I'm wondering, how many more small farms (or residents) in the Jasper/Newton county areas have been deceived and/or received threats/intimidation from that group? Just curious (for now)...

Stinky Cheese

Whenever we have spaghetti at our house, our son always asks for the "stinky cheese" first. In case you're wondering, he's referring to Parmesan cheese. With the great debate over cheese names in other parts of the world today, who knows what we may some day be calling it.

Speaking of debates, a recent Cheese article published by the Rensselaer Republican has sparked a furious debate -- not about cheese -- but about the escalating CAFO issues surrounding one particular group of CAFOs in our area -- and comments are getting quite nasty on both sides ...which is precisely why I'm not jumping into the fray over there.

Albert Einstein once said:

"Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them."

But... and here is the big BUT ...in order to solve a problem, you have to acknowledge and admit there is a problem in the first place.

And in my personal opinion, that is precisely why there is such a growing outcry of protest against CAFOs regardless what news is published; whether the news be about winning some kind of contest, or about trucks raising dust on the roads, or about flyash finding its way into areas where it hasn't been approved for use.

There is a problem. Actually, there are a host of problems. The problems are still growing. And those creating the problems are refusing to admit there even is a problem.

Or at least, that's the way I see it.

Europe is seeing things differently in recent years.

In fact, the latest report coming out of that corner of the globe, issued on September 17, 2007, by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warns about the increased risk of pathogen contamination owing to intensive animal farming methods being employed today throughout the world. (Read more here.)

The FAO warns there are problems. Environmental groups emphatically state there are problems. Independent scientists are shouting that there are problems. And many neighboring residents (some of whom are farmers themselves) have been crying for years that there are problems.

And who are the people steadfastly refusing to admit there is a problem?

Well, you can meet some of them posting comments on that RR article referenced above. If you run your own blog and happen to share my opinion on CAFOs, chances are you've received a few inflammatory comments and bashing from them, as I have, too. Or if you happen to fight one from invading your community, you may have even received a SLAPP lawsuit from one (or more) of them. (IMHO, they seem to enjoy using SLAPP suits to shut people up so they can do whatever they want to do -- to any neighborhood they please.)

What disturbs me most is some of the Indiana Government entities that are not only refusing to admit there is a problem -- but are actively encouraging GROWTH of the problem. If you want to see one example, here's a cute pic of Becky.

The above article paints a rosy picture, indeed. But here's a different article that tells the other side of the same story -- Neighbors Raise Stink Over Farmer's Cow Plan.

Same farm -- two different pictures. And our very own Lt. Governor getting her photo op turning the soil to promote the plans.

Totally off topic -- do you recall a long time ago on this blog I asked the question: "What happens when you push a hoosier up against the wall and threaten his livelihood, his family, his home?"

Well, I was sitting here watching a YouTube video for which I got the link from one of my Stock Market newsletters, that described the video as follows:

"It was filmed by a tourist in Kruger National Park in South Africa and it's had over 17 million viewings since it was first posted in May, so you know that it's well worth watching."

While watching it, I got to thinking...

Imagine the buffalo are Hoosiers. Now imagine the lions are CAFOs. Now imagine the crocodiles are our Indiana government.

The video is 9 minutes long -- nothing to do with CAFOs -- might be a great way to take your mind off the subject for awhile. Here's the link. Enjoy.

Dead Fish at Jasper-Pulaski Game Reserve

In readiness for our son to start Tiger Cubs, we took him on a little fishing trip to the Jasper-Pulaski Game Reserve the day before school began. He had one of those cute little zebco-type rod and reel kits, and we sat back to watch (waaaaay back sometimes) as he practiced casting.

The heat was sweltering, a day during that heat wave that hit all of us late last month. Needless to say, it wasn't long before our little guy tired of his adventure. Instead, he wanted to go on a short hike through the bush to the old wooden "tower" at another small lake location.

The welcome shade from the trees enticed us to agree... and off we went.

Entering the first area, however, we were shocked at what we discovered -- hundreds and hundreds of dead fish. Some were laying on the banks, most were floating throughout the small lake (pond, really), and the smell -- UGH!

There were dead, rotting fish carcasses all over the lake and shore areas. Hundreds of them... At one point, a Kingfisher bird swooped down to snatch up a small fish. Not sure if it was one of the dead fish, or one of the few remaining small bass struggling to stay alive.

This was not natural at all.

We're not certain, but it looked to us like the Reserve had recently had all the lilly pads sprayed, since we could see what looked like "trails" through the thick weed patches. We'd also seen some type of "Aquatic Management" trucks passing by our home a few days before.

In any event, our son learned some valuable lessons regarding the environment, ecosystems and more that day.

It's a pity to think that a 7 year old child can understand more about protecting our environment than the people in charge of nurturing and safeguarding our State Reserves and Wetlands. That's pretty sad in my humble opinion.

Princeton Indiana Mining Deaths

Reports aren't very clear yet, but more news is coming out regarding the 3 killed at a coal mine northwest of the city of Princeton in Gibson County, Indiana earlier today. Here are links to a few reports on the story:

Three Killed in Mine Accident in Indiana

3 killed at southern Indiana coal mine

3 Dead in Indiana Mine Accident

I'm wondering if this is the same mine that Peabody Energy Corp. was planning to use as its source for a proposed new coal-fired power plant near Central City, Kentucky ...a permit for which was recently struck down by a Kentucky Judge. (Full story)

Meanwhile, we noticed "flyash mountain" (read about it here and here) was still present a couple weeks back when we took our visitor on a tour of this region.

WHEN are they going to REMOVE that STUFF?!?

Who knows for certain how much of that arsenic has already leached into waters in this area. Sheesh!



PS: Sorry I've been absent these past couple weeks. I've had tons of writing (for clients) to catch up on after completing the pilot plus 2 partial episodes and the Treatment for a new television series. Now THAT is a HUGE project! I'll tell you more about it in November. Stay tuned.