And in other news — From the NYT summary of “Today’s Columnists”:

DAVID BROOKS
Back to Basics

“Perhaps what the G.O.P. needs is Newt Gingrich’s brain lodged in Fred Thompson’s temperament.”

Bwahahahaha!

Oh my. Wait. I mean…

Yes! That’s just what the GOP needs. I think they should get on it right away. There must be some sort of brain-swapping surgery they could do.

It’s *perfect*.

(N.B., NYT has some of the most hilarious columnist summaries, especially for Brooks, Friedman, and Dowd. There’s comedy gold in them thar hills — I’m surprised no one’s made a regular practice of mining it yet.)

Arrgh,

I just missed it!!!

TRex!

(your time will come again, CTuttle)

Quatro~!

Someone please go tell the other kids we’re up here now.

Woohoo – Plame AND Trex. Two of my favorites together again.

I let downstairs know, TRex.

TRex @ 6

Someone please go tell the other kids we’re up here now.

Suzanne and CTuttle already took care of it. Seems like people are still busy saying various “G-nite!”’s before heading up to this thread.

All your public domains are belong to us!

TRex @ 6

Someone please go tell the other kids we’re up here now.

Did it!!! I’m praying for drought conditions within the Beltway, Not Georgia!!! …bedlam is dreaming of rain… *g*

The genie is out of the bottle. The CIA will never be able to silence Plame and Wilson. IMHO

TRex, have you heard from any of the lawyer types about Plame’s chances on this suit?

kirk murphy @ 4

TRex!

(your time will come again, CTuttle)

Hey Kirk, write in as many blogs as you can about frankenfoods. I think you will be well served in alternative health sites … those who can afford organic also have connections to get something done to reverse this trend.

Suzanne @ 13

TRex, have you heard from any of the lawyer types about Plame’s chances on this suit?

Nope, but I’m sure they’ll weigh in.

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

TexBetsy @ 16

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

((((((((( Betsy )))))))))

… slyly looks around for signs of Blueberry Pie … *g*

From top: “The suit was filed earlier today at the U.S. District Court/Southern District of New York Court.”

While a little more conservative than you’d expect, the New York court is usually pretty good on First Amendment rights — all those newspapers and publishing houses. I’d expect Valerie Wilson to get a positive decision here.

God, Jane’s Addiction had a hot bass player. How did I miss him the first time around?

hey aunt betsy – cassie got the zed downstairs :)

Petrocelli @ 17

TexBetsy @ 16

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

((((((((( Betsy )))))))))

… slyly looks around for signs of Blueberry Pie … *g*

No pie, but i did spend much time eating chocolate while freaking out about family events and my crazy family all evening.

LS @ 12

The genie is out of the bottle. The CIA will never be able to silence Plame and Wilson. IMHO

… or Larry Johnson and his friends … gosh, I wonder when the patriots in the CIA, FBI, etc. are going to stand up and speak out. They must have incriminating evidence on Bush & Co., Tenet has hinted that he does, but was muzzled.

Petrocelli @ 14

kirk murphy @ 4

TRex!

(your time will come again, CTuttle)

Hey Kirk, write in as many blogs as you can about frankenfoods. I think you will be well served in alternative health sites … those who can afford organic also have connections to get something done to reverse this trend.

Damn, must be an off night for me, I’m concurring too much with ya!!! Puhlease, Doc, keep them a’coming!!! *g* (go ahead petro, pour salt…)

Before I head out on an errand, I’ll run it by the pups one more time – is it a violation of any statute or regulation for a serving military person to appear in uniform at a political rally and speak on behalf of a candidate who is using that event to raise funds for a campaign?

TexBetsy @ 16

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

Most Certainly, Ma’am!!!

Ed*ard Teller @ 24

Before I head out on an errand, I’ll run it by the pups one more time – is it a violation of any statute or regulation for a serving military person to appear in uniform at a political rally and speak on behalf of a candidate who is using that event to raise funds for a campaign?

Yes. I believe it is.

“Jane said:
have you seen my blog around?”

Evenin’, Betsy. You’re just in time to kiss me goodnight.

*smooch*

I’m off to bed, kids. Leaping around the room and punching the air to that Jane’s Addiction song wore me out.

CTuttle @ 2

Arrgh,

… missed it by that much … *g*
Thanks for reminding me about Waxman … Big Hank should be Coaching Conyers & Co.

ET, I’m remembering something about it being illegal. Some politico, perhaps Montana pre 2006 election did something similar and there was a big fuss about it.

CTuttle @ 23

Petrocelli @ 14

Hey Kirk, write in as many blogs as you can about frankenfoods. I think you will be well served in alternative health sites … those who can afford organic also have connections to get something done to reverse this trend.

Damn, must be an off night for me, I’m concurring too much with ya!!! Puhlease, Doc, keep them a’coming!!! *g* (go ahead petro, pour salt…)

99 Bottles O’ Beer on the wall, 99 Bottles O’ Beer …

Petrocelli @ 29

CTuttle @ 2

Arrgh,

… missed it by that much … *g*
Thanks for reminding me about Waxman … Big Hank should be Coaching Conyers & Co.

Forget the salt, just please remove the stiletto from my back!!! *g*

ET, look it up in the uniform code.

g’nite TRex. sleep well.

TRex @ 28

Evenin’, Betsy. You’re just in time to kiss me goodnight.

*smooch*

I’m off to bed, kids. Leaping around the room and punching the air to that Jane’s Addiction song wore me out.

My first therapod kiss! (Too many teeth, just hug next time, k?)

Suzanne @ 34

g’nite TRex. sleep well.

Goodnite, T!!!

CTuttle @ 32

Petrocelli @ 29

… missed it by that much … *g*
Thanks for reminding me about Waxman … Big Hank should be Coaching Conyers & Co.

Forget the salt, just please remove the stiletto from my back!!! *g*

Ah man, I LOVED Maxwell Smart …

You get smooches, TB, I tend to get twacked by that tail. sigh.

dkos diary on this Plame Publisher CIA issue by Larry C Johnson (Is that THE Larry Johnson?)

punaise.. Cladestino.. oh so familiar! What venue were they playing last night?

Petrocelli @ 37

CTuttle @ 32

Forget the salt, just please remove the stiletto from my back!!! *g*

Ah man, I LOVED Maxwell Smart …

Aah, that’s where I heard it… It still smarts!!! Et Tu? ;)

Suzanne @ 38

You get smooches, TB, I tend to get twacked by that tail. sigh.

Well, you never feed the Theropod … *g*

Suzanne @ 39

You get smooches, TB, I tend to get twacked by that tail. sigh.

I thought his Forearms were too small to hug??? ;)

Petrocelli @ 22

LS @ 12

The genie is out of the bottle. The CIA will never be able to silence Plame and Wilson. IMHO

… or Larry Johnson and his friends … gosh, I wonder when the patriots in the CIA, FBI, etc. are going to stand up and speak out. They must have incriminating evidence on Bush & Co., Tenet has hinted that he does, but was muzzled.

I’m hoping many of them have been coming forward with information behind closed doors. We know that there was a lot of information revealed by the DOJ people already. There are so many good people out there, and I believe they will do the right thing. We just might not know about it for awhile.

yep, that is the same larry johnson. he also bloggs over at his place, no quarter.

CIA? FBI? I presume we’re talking about the Culinary Institute of America and its companion organization, the Food and Beverage Institute. That’s what’s really important, after all.

Sigh. If only.

Ed*ard Teller @ 24

Before I head out on an errand, I’ll run it by the pups one more time – is it a violation of any statute or regulation for a serving military person to appear in uniform at a political rally and speak on behalf of a candidate who is using that event to raise funds for a campaign?

It most definitely is. I recall that it came up a whole bunch of times during the 04 campaign. The UCMJ expressly prohibits it.Of course with the Bushies in control of DOJ and the Pentagon nothing was done about it.

Steve T. @ 46

CIA? FBI? I presume we’re talking about the Culinary Institute of America and its companion organization, the Food and Beverage Institute. That’s what’s really important, after all.

Sigh. If only.

707 Alas, If Only…..

From Larry’s piece (which is crossposted at kos and no quarter:

So what’s the problem? The CIA will only confirm that she was a CIA employee–a covert one at that–from January 2002 until outed in July 2003. They won’t let her write about her experiences prior to January 2002. But the CIA screwed up. They’ve tried to argue that her life before January 2002 is a deep, dark secret. Except the boneheads sent her an unclassified letter through snail mail detailing her years of previously classified service. Once the toothpaste is squeezed out of the tube you don’t put it back in.

rut roh

on the uniform issue:

http://www.cleveland.com/news/…..amp;coll=2

http://kokesh.blogspot.com/200…..jects.html

http://wonkette.com/politics/d…..eater/anti gonzales-hero-marine-arrested-on-hill-255757.php

end of slashdot/firedoglake break, back to work…

LS @ 44

Petrocelli @ 22

… or Larry Johnson and his friends … gosh, I wonder when the patriots in the CIA, FBI, etc. are going to stand up and speak out. They must have incriminating evidence on Bush & Co., Tenet has hinted that he does, but was muzzled.

I’m hoping many of them have been coming forward with information behind closed doors. We know that there was a lot of information revealed by the DOJ people already. There are so many good people out there, and I believe they will do the right thing. We just might not know about it for awhile.

I agree, despite all of Rove’s efforts to undermine these institutions, I believe there are many more honorable patriots toiling at their jobs and they will talk to the right people, behind closed doors.
The more I hear about the incredible work Valerie was doing and the risks she and her people were taking, the angrier I get that Bush & his cohorts outed her for political gain. Bush, Cheney, Rove and Co. should be ashamed … they broke the trust of their intelligence agencies and personnel.

Eureka Springs @ 40

punaise.. Cladestino.. oh so familiar! What venue were they playing last night?

MAnu Chao played the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in SF – a cavernous hall with mediocre sounds quality. The main floor was packed with a throbbing throng of humanity complete with crowd surfers; too old for that, we watched from the balcony. Have to say, the links I left in the previous thread were not indicative of the evening’s music – most of it was crashingly loud, with nearly every song starting with and/or (d)evolving into a rapid double-time Ibero-punkabilly frenzy. quite a show!

Alfred Kelgarries @ 50

on the uniform issue:

http://www.cleveland.com/news/…..amp;coll=2

http://kokesh.blogspot.com/200…..jects.html

http://wonkette.com/politics/d…..eater/anti gonzales-hero-marine-arrested-on-hill-255757.php

end of slashdot/firedoglake break, back to work…

dammit,final linky fix:

here!

Helpless Dancer @ 47

Ed*ard Teller @ 24

Before I head out on an errand, I’ll run it by the pups one more time – is it a violation of any statute or regulation for a serving military person to appear in uniform at a political rally and speak on behalf of a candidate who is using that event to raise funds for a campaign?

It most definitely is. I recall that it came up a whole bunch of times during the 04 campaign. The UCMJ expressly prohibits it.Of course with the Bushies in control of DOJ and the Pentagon nothing was done about it.

Must be in ‘Civies’, not in full regalia, been drummed into our collective heads since Basic!!! Similarly, political activism is discouraged, witness that SPC’s failure to ask; ‘How Much Longer?’ to HoJo!!!

CTuttle @ 54

Must be in ‘Civies’, not in full regalia…

must be in skivvies (for those tighty whitey Goopers)

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

ET — there is a law about active duty in uniform at political events. It came up in Colorado last year during a GOP dinner, where soldiers appeared in dress uniforms (not as part of an honor guard, but as guests and, iirc, awardees of some sort).

I will hunt in the tubes for the links, as I exchanged emails at the time with the reporter who was covering the story in Colorado. I cannot now recall the candidate, or Congressperson, who was involved, or even the locality.

But there is such a law.

grannie panties for the female type, punaise?

JGabriel @ 1

And in other news — From the NYT summary of “Today’s Columnists”:

DAVID BROOKS
Back to Basics

“Perhaps what the G.O.P. needs is Newt Gingrich’s brain lodged in Fred Thompson’s temperament.”

Bwahahahaha!

Oh my. Wait. I mean…

Yes! That’s just what the GOP needs. I think they should get on it right away. There must be some sort of brain-swapping surgery they could do.

It’s *perfect*.

(N.B., NYT has some of the most hilarious columnist summaries, especially for Brooks, Friedman, and Dowd. There’s comedy gold in them thar hills — I’m surprised no one’s made a regular practice of mining it yet.)

Actually, this column advances a theme that Gingrich sets out in the New Yorker article with Jeffrey Goldberg. The idea is that elections sometimes are about them vs not them. Gingrich’s 1994 was very much of that theme, and he says, dissing dems, that all their winning campaigns are of that theme.

He says the only way a republican can win the presidency is by converting himself somehow to “not them.” That means, in this case, running against pork, Tom Delay, immigration reform, failure in NOLA, and the reciting the old slogans about limited government and states rights.

It’s easy, at this point, to build up a case of being conservative and against the administration.

But the big stinking pile in the middle is the occupation. You might be able to get the nomination by running from a weird amalgam of libertarian and anti-immigration racist. But you have to support the occupation to get the nomination. And a candidate with that set of positions would have a very hard time with independents.

Back from errands – thanks TexBetsy, Suzanne, Helpless Dancer,

I’m not out to get SSgt Moore in trouble. What I want to do is taint the money Stevens received and keep his name in the news, hopefully forcing his campaiign to have to return the money. Of course, they’d all give it right back, but I seem to remember a big guy here saying

attack Attack ATTACK ATTACK!!

punaise @ 52

Eureka Springs @ 40

punaise.. Cladestino.. oh so familiar! What venue were they playing last night?

MAnu Chao played the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in SF – a cavernous hall with mediocre sounds quality. The main floor was packed with a throbbing throng of humanity complete with crowd surfers; too old for that, we watched from the balcony. Have to say, the links I left in the previous thread were not indicative of the evening’s music – most of it was crashingly loud, with nearly every song starting with and/or (d)evolving into a rapid double-time Ibero-punkabilly frenzy. quite a show!

Ah yes, also grand central for the black and white ball. Awful acoustics.

I think Desaparecido is my favorite of the three youtubes.

Petrocelli @ 51

LS @ 44

I’m hoping many of them have been coming forward with information behind closed doors. We know that there was a lot of information revealed by the DOJ people already. There are so many good people out there, and I believe they will do the right thing. We just might not know about it for awhile.

I agree, despite all of Rove’s efforts to undermine these institutions, I believe there are many more honorable patriots toiling at their jobs and they will talk to the right people, behind closed doors.
The more I hear about the incredible work Valerie was doing and the risks she and her people were taking, the angrier I get that Bush & his cohorts outed her for political gain. Bush, Cheney, Rove and Co. should be ashamed … they broke the trust of their intelligence agencies and personnel.

The damage that has been done, with Valerie’s outing, severely hampered our Counter-Proliferation efforts throughout the world!!! She was head of our CIA efforts!!! Duh!!!

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

His dad’s a BART engineer — the nightnews said BART announced the victory on all the trains and at all the stations!

SF Giants fans rejoice in the departure of underperforming bad-attitude closer Armando Benitez.

TeddySanFran @ 63

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

His dad’s a BART engineer — the nightnews said BART announced the victory on all the trains and at all the stations!

cool! I guess he can spell Pittsburg/Bay Point

I must be running out of steam — I couldn’t think of one single snarky question to ask David Broder for tomorrow’s chatz

g’nite, pups — please be sure to write your senators to ask them to co-sponsor the Dodd Amendment. Even the wingnut Senators!

CTuttle @ 61

Petrocelli @ 51

I agree, despite all of Rove’s efforts to undermine these institutions, I believe there are many more honorable patriots toiling at their jobs and they will talk to the right people, behind closed doors.
The more I hear about the incredible work Valerie was doing and the risks she and her people were taking, the angrier I get that Bush & his cohorts outed her for political gain. Bush, Cheney, Rove and Co. should be ashamed … they broke the trust of their intelligence agencies and personnel.

The damage that has been done, with Valerie’s outing, severely hampered our Counter-Proliferation efforts throughout the world!!! She was head of our CIA efforts!!! Duh!!!

Yes, I just learnt a few days ago that she was the head of this dept. in the C.I.A. This has to motivate people to come forward and divulge evidence, so that Bush & Co. get charged for treason. Yes, I am very optimistic, but what’s the alternative?

TeddySanFran @ 66

I must be running out of steam — I couldn’t think of one single snarky question to ask David Broder for tomorrow’s chatz

g’nite, pups — please be sure to write your senators to ask them to co-sponsor the Dodd Amendment. Even the wingnut Senators!

Wilco!!! Evening, TSF!!!

TeddySanFran @ 62

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

His dad’s a BART engineer — the nightnews said BART announced the victory on all the trains and at all the stations!

ET, Jr. went to state in the National Geographic Geography Bee a couple of times. Almost all the finalists were home schoolers. ET, Jr. went down on Athens-Parthenon one year and the Coral Sea-Solomon Islands the next.

ET, any local scuttlebutt on what was searched in Girdwood by the FBI if it wasn’t Stevens’ home or office?

TeddySanFran @ 65

I must be running out of steam — I couldn’t think of one single snarky question to ask David Broder for tomorrow’s chatz

g’nite, pups — please be sure to write your senators to ask them to co-sponsor the Dodd Amendment. Even the wingnut Senators!

Especially the republican senators up in 08.

Ed*ard Teller @ 59

Back from errands – thanks TexBetsy, Suzanne, Helpless Dancer,

I’m not out to get SSgt Moore in trouble. What I want to do is taint the money Stevens received and keep his name in the news, hopefully forcing his campaiign to have to return the money. Of course, they’d all give it right back, but I seem to remember a big guy here saying

attack Attack ATTACK ATTACK!!

ET, did you see this? Marine Vet Faces Hearing Over Protest

Petrocelli @ 67

CTuttle @ 61

The damage that has been done, with Valerie’s outing, severely hampered our Counter-Proliferation efforts throughout the world!!! She was head of our CIA efforts!!! Duh!!!

Yes, I just learnt a few days ago that she was the head of this dept. in the C.I.A. This has to motivate people to come forward and divulge evidence, so that Bush & Co. get charged for treason. Yes, I am very optimistic, but what’s the alternative?

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

CTuttle @ 72

Petrocelli @ 67

Yes, I just learnt a few days ago that she was the head of this dept. in the C.I.A. This has to motivate people to come forward and divulge evidence, so that Bush & Co. get charged for treason. Yes, I am very optimistic, but what’s the alternative?

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

CTuttle @ 73

Petrocelli @ 67

Yes, I just learnt a few days ago that she was the head of this dept. in the C.I.A. This has to motivate people to come forward and divulge evidence, so that Bush & Co. get charged for treason. Yes, I am very optimistic, but what’s the alternative?

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Maybe some of them will go over to Waxman and spill some good beans..

Margot @ 71

ET, did you see this? Marine Vet Faces Hearing Over Protest

I did. Plus we have the Gen. Boykin (?sp) incident. I’m thinking that if this story – Stevens – gets traction – that young jarhead’s defense might be able to take note.

LS @ 74

CTuttle @ 73

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Maybe some of them will go over to Waxman and spill some good beans..

I believe in reaching for the highest rung … forget about impeachment for now …
… charge them with treason, then see which Rep will vote nay …

Petrocelli @ 14

kirk murphy @ 4

TRex!

(your time will come again, CTuttle)

Hey Kirk, write in as many blogs as you can about frankenfoods. I think you will be well served in alternative health sites … those who can afford organic also have connections to get something done to reverse this trend.

Thanks Petrocelli -

Please feel free to pass on the articles as you see fit.

I’m happy to write about the issue – it touches all of us.

Oh – perhaps the mutant food GMO industry had reasons to be a bit techy.

Remember the toxic mutant GMO corn?

I’m sorry: not just any toxic mutant GMO corn.

I mean teh Monsanto toxic mutant GMO corn.

Monsanto toxic mutant GMO corn 863.

Hard to keep the mutants straight; I wrote about it and the GMO Monsanto soy earlier the week.
The Monsanto soya is widely eaten by Americans.

(And – clutch my pearls – the toxic mutant GMO Monsanto soy study is just preliminary.

So we should ignore it, of course. Don’t use the precautionary principle.

Wait for a body count.)

Well – the blessed market brought us yet another toxic mutant Monsanto corn – MON 810.

But there’s just one problem

“They have just discovered that the toxin which is supposed to kill the corn pest is being secreted in ways that are not precisely what was expected.”

Who says – another DFH?

Nope – former French prime minister Alain Juppe.

Now France’s Ecology Minister.

France will follow Germany’s recent de facto ban on GM corn (maize), according to the country’s freshly-appointed environment minister and deputy head of government – Alain Juppe.

Juppe, a former French prime minister, told the French daily paper Le Parisien that, “In this particular instance, we must be steered by the German case.”

According to reports, Juppe was referring to restrictions applied by the German government to Monsanto’s MON 810 corn which mean that it can only be sold if Monsanto also provides an accompanying monitoring plan to research the effects on the environment. To date Monsanto has not presented any such plan.

Bon appetit!

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

It is my recollection that even after one leaves the service of the CIA, permission must still be granted by the CIA in order for said former employee to discuss anything regarding said service or information gleaned during the course of said service.

Which is why Plame and her publisher are suing the CIA for denying said permission.

Petrocelli @ 74

CTuttle @ 72

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

Good Point, LS & Petro!!! However, look at what problems Valerie is encountering, what they could possibly turn over would be Coopted by the Exec., subsequently, the potential doc’s would never see the light of day!!! Back to Square One…

Suzanne @ 77

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

It is my recollection that even after one leaves the service of the CIA, permission must still be granted by the CIA in order for said former employee to discuss anything regarding said service or information gleaned during the course of said service.

Which is why Plame and her publisher are suing the CIA for denying said permission.

does classified / nonclassified make a difference?

TB, I believe it covers all employees with no classification exemptions.

Suzanne @ 80

TB, I believe it covers all employees with no classification exemptions.

I meant if the info was classified.

TexBetsy @ 81

Suzanne @ 77

I’m not very optimistic, I read somewhere today, that the CIA has had a record 15% turnover in staff, within the past two months!!!

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

It is my recollection that even after one leaves the service of the CIA, permission must still be granted by the CIA in order for said former employee to discuss anything regarding said service or information gleaned during the course of said service.

Which is why Plame and her publisher are suing the CIA for denying said permission.

does classified / nonclassified make a difference?

Yes, it very much does, Ma’am!!! And Suz, similar minds… *g*

CTuttle @ 79

Petrocelli @ 74

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

Good Point, LS & Petro!!! However, look at what problems Valerie is encountering, what they could possibly turn over would be Coopted by the Exec., subsequently, the potential doc’s would never see the light of day!!! Back to Square One…

She will persist, according to Larry Johnson, her argument is valid and she will win. When has anyone won a case against a publisher ? *g*

Wow, CT … I believe we just had our first serious discussion … felt odd but good … *g*

9 Bottles O’ Beer on the wall, 9 Bottles O’ Beer …

honeybees

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007J.shtml

I thought this was a wonderful interview with USA Iglecias (sp).

This is a filmed interview with lots of his personal comments and replacement AG thots, and behind-the-scenes tidbits (Goodling, Gonzales analyses).

Thank you somebody upstairs for pointing me to this. (Your link didn’t work for me, so I sure hope this does.) Pear

TeddySanFran @ 62

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

His dad’s a BART engineer — the nightnews said BART announced the victory on all the trains and at all the stations!

Finishing eighth grade and starting college next year.

CTuttle @ 79

Petrocelli @ 74

Those who leave are more able to divulge information, is that not so?

Good Point, LS & Petro!!! However, look at what problems Valerie is encountering, what they could possibly turn over would be Coopted by the Exec., subsequently, the potential doc’s would never see the light of day!!! Back to Square One…

If the information was about illegal operations, wouldn’t that make a difference? They must have some boundaries as to what they can do.

Petrocelli @ 85

CTuttle @ 79

Good Point, LS & Petro!!! However, look at what problems Valerie is encountering, what they could possibly turn over would be Coopted by the Exec., subsequently, the potential doc’s would never see the light of day!!! Back to Square One…

She will persist, according to Larry Johnson, her argument is valid and she will win. When has anyone won a case against a publisher ? *g*

Wow, CT … I believe we just had our first serious discussion … felt odd but good … *g*

9 Bottles O’ Beer on the wall, 9 Bottles O’ Beer …

Arrgh, we’ve had a few serious discussions before, errr… let me get back to you on that!!! ;-)

What will tomorrow be, a news dump or recess appointment of some kind? *s*

G’nite firedogs

Eureka Springs @ 90

What will tomorrow be, a news dump or recess appointment of some kind? *s*

G’nite firedogs

Gonzo be Gone?

Good night. It was fun.

hive got to say:

“I’ll never be your bee stuff birdin’ “

LS @ 92

Good night. It was fun.

Sleep well LS

kirk murphy @ 77

Keep at it, my friend, keep repeating this over and over … it takes a while for new thoughts to sink into the American psyche but when it does, your people perform miracles. Right now, they’re still shaking off the daze of 9/11 and the Bush talking points … the giant is awakening …

Please get my e-mail from Suzanne … I’d like you to review my book when the publisher has signed on to it. Your work and experience will provide a unique viewpoint and critique for my book.

Dang! EPU’d again. Please excuse the re-post.

Bob Schacht @ 304

To go along with today’s (May 31) excellent article on blogging by Jay Rosen at Huffington Post about why blogs are so cool, I went down memory lane to fetch the details of my first encounter with powerful blogging. That was the infamous skewering of Dan Rather on Sept. 9, 2004 by the right-wing Powerline, relating to some personal papers Rather claimed to have on Bush’s military service, reported on 60 Minutes the night before. The whole sensational blog, known as “The Sixty-first minute“, was for me an eye-opener on this thing called “blog”. To get the full effect today is difficult, because their archive for that month reads backwards (Sept 30 up top, Sept 1 at the bottom). The original article had 13 updates resulting from reader responses, and became so unwieldy that Powerline closed the article, explaining,

FINAL UPDATE: Lest this post become too unwieldy, we will close our updates here, and begin with new posts on the subject. Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard has consulted with several experts who agree that the documents are, in all probability, a hoax. That will be our first new post on the subject.

After that, you have to read the archives from that point upwards, but it’s worth doing to capture the whole thread. I was very impressed with the dynamics of reader involvement in the whole process, although I was also ticked off that Bush was let off the hook not on substance (he was still guilty as all heck) but because the documents evidently were forgeries. So, Powerline did 3 years ago the kind of thing that TPMuckraker and FDL do now. But I did not want to hang out with them, because of their conservative orientation.

Among the other things that Powerline did that same month was to live-blog (!) the debate between John Kerry and George Bush. They proudly announced that they had 70,000 hits during the debate, and in their post-debate wrap-up, they scored it like a heavyweight fight, with a few paragraphs of analysis:

SCORING THE FIGHT: I have Bush by 107-103, with no knockdowns.

In other words, the Powerline example deserved a paragraph in Rosen’s essay because of the rapid, reader-involved investigation that brought a major U.S. company to its knees. The MSM should have learned then about the power of Citizen Journalism, but remained in its cocoon.

Bob in HI

LS @ 89

CTuttle @ 79

Good Point, LS & Petro!!! However, look at what problems Valerie is encountering, what they could possibly turn over would be Coopted by the Exec., subsequently, the potential doc’s would never see the light of day!!! Back to Square One…

If the information was about illegal operations, wouldn’t that make a difference? They must have some boundaries as to what they can do.

Honestly, not much until we finally get a Constitutional Showdown between Congress and the Executive, unfortunately, arbitrated by Scotus, rendering an inane, un-cite-able ruling in favor of the Executive!!! Sigh…..

Finally getting time to read Marcy’s current masterpiece.

So far, three LOL’s, two ROFL’s and a semi-707. Haven’t even gotten to the comments…

Nite, ES & LS!!! Sleep tight!!!

Petrocelli @ 95

kirk murphy @ 77

Keep at it, my friend, keep repeating this over and over … it takes a while for new thoughts to sink into the American psyche but when it does, your people perform miracles. Right now, they’re still shaking off the daze of 9/11 and the Bush talking points … the giant is awakening …

Please get my e-mail from Suzanne … I’d like you to review my book when the publisher has signed on to it. Your work and experience will provide a unique viewpoint and critique for my book.

Petro,, wth my typos, I can’t imagine why you’d let me near a manuscript?

What if I’m contagious.

But I’d be happy to hlep.

You can reach me kmurphy riseup net

And thanks for your kind take on my ruminations over toxic mutant GMO food.

Ed*ard Teller @ 98

Finally getting time to read Marcy’s current masterpiece.

So far, three LOL’s, two ROFL’s and a semi-707. Haven’t even gotten to the comments…

Somehow my comment got posted 3 times at Marcy’s … I’ll never show my face there again …

punaise @ 93

hive got to say:

“I’ll never be your bee stuff birdin’ “

hee hee hee

TexBetsy @ 16

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

Yes! we’ve been arguing, what with the news about Tuberculosis, about how to abbreviate your handle so that it doesn’t come out “TB.” We don’t really want to call you by the name of a killer disease! My suggestion was TxB, but once again I’m late joining the party, so I don’t know if you’ll see this tonight.

Bob in HI

Petrocelli @ 101

Ed*ard Teller @ 98

Finally getting time to read Marcy’s current masterpiece.

So far, three LOL’s, two ROFL’s and a semi-707. Haven’t even gotten to the comments…

Somehow my comment got posted 3 times at Marcy’s … I’ll never show my face there again …

She has a way for you to leave your face and not just your name and email?? Spooky.

Petrocelli @ 102

Ed*ard Teller @ 98

Finally getting time to read Marcy’s current masterpiece.

So far, three LOL’s, two ROFL’s and a semi-707. Haven’t even gotten to the comments…

Somehow my comment got posted 3 times at Marcy’s … I’ll never show my face there again …

Is that a Promise??? :O

Bob Schacht @ 103

TexBetsy @ 16

Good evening, or good morning dear friends. Miss me?

Yes! we’ve been arguing, what with the news about Tuberculosis, about how to abbreviate your handle so that it doesn’t come out “TB.” We don’t really want to call you by the name of a killer disease! My suggestion was TxB, but once again I’m late joining the party, so I don’t know if you’ll see this tonight.

Bob in HI

Tex works fine. Only 3 letters.

TRex @ 19

God, Jane’s Addiction had a hot bass player. How did I miss him the first time around?

Maybe its for stuff like this that my new computer came with a woofer. I’ll have to connect it up to give it a road test with this clip.

Bob in HI

TexBetsy @ 21

Petrocelli @ 17

((((((((( Betsy )))))))))

… slyly looks around for signs of Blueberry Pie … *g*

No pie, but i did spend much time eating chocolate while freaking out about family events and my crazy family all evening.

O-o-o-o– Anything you can tell us?

Bob in HI

CTuttle @ 105

Petrocelli @ 102

Somehow my comment got posted 3 times at Marcy’s … I’ll never show my face there again …

Is that a Promise??? :O

Oh good, you’ve found your stiletto … *g*

Bob Schacht @ 108

TexBetsy @ 21

No pie, but i did spend much time eating chocolate while freaking out about family events and my crazy family all evening.

O-o-o-o– Anything you can tell us?

Bob in HI

They’re nutz and I am stressed. My ex, his folks, my brother, my aunt, my dad. The 13 yr old with the bad attitude and the mouth —– he’s the easy one.

Petrocelli @ 110

CTuttle @ 105

Is that a Promise??? :O

Oh good, you’ve found your stiletto … *g*

I reached around and pulled it out myself!!! :P

kirk murphy @ 100

Petrocelli @ 95

kirk murphy @ 77

Keep at it, my friend, keep repeating this over and over … it takes a while for new thoughts to sink into the American psyche but when it does, your people perform miracles. Right now, they’re still shaking off the daze of 9/11 and the Bush talking points … the giant is awakening …

Please get my e-mail from Suzanne … I’d like you to review my book when the publisher has signed on to it. Your work and experience will provide a unique viewpoint and critique for my book.

Petro,, wth my typos, I can’t imagine why you’d let me near a manuscript?

What if I’m contagious.

But I’d be happy to hlep.

You can reach me kmurphy riseup net

And thanks for your kind take on my ruminations over toxic mutant GMO food.

Sorry, what’s your e-mail? Is it kmurphy XXX dot XXX ?
Suz … a little help please?

time for me to get some sleep. night all.

TexBetsy @ 113

time for me to get some sleep. night all.

G’nite Betsy !!!

TexBetsy @ 114

time for me to get some sleep. night all.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and the clan, Ma’am!!! G’nite!!!

ouch… had to reboot and it took forever to get back on…

Can you please wipe the blade off, Petro, wouldn’t want the blade to rust!!! Waste of perfectly good steel!!!

Good night TB uh bacillus uh Tex :)

And Petrocelli, you got it!

(If you can do back and take out the “at” and “dot”, that will help with the spam bots.)

Thanks!

kirk murphy @ 119

Good night TB uh bacillus uh Tex :)

And Petrocelli, you got it!

(If you can do back and take out the “at” and “dot”, that will help with the spam bots.)

Thanks!

Evening, Doc!!!

Hi CTuttle – how’re you doing?

kirk murphy @ 121

Hi CTuttle – how’re you doing?

Parrying Petro’s thrusts!!!

CTuttle @ 117

Can you please wipe the blade off, Petro, wouldn’t want the blade to rust!!! Waste of perfectly good steel!!!

Not to worry dear boy … the alcohol in my body will prevent rusting … *g*

… I hope that made you spew …

G’nite all, see you Sunday.

kirk murphy @ 118

Good night TB uh bacillus uh Tex :)

And Petrocelli, you got it!

(If you can do back and take out the “at” and “dot”, that will help with the spam bots.)

Thanks!

Sorry mods, I cannot edit the comment.

will take care of it petrocelli/km.

ET cues Twilight Zone theme – {{{{ tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu}}}}

I just realized that back in the summer of 1996 I wrote back-to-back compositions dedicated to Vic Kohring and Ted Stevens.

Kohring, the Alaska state representative indicted for accepting Veco bribes, had just written an op-ed blaming arts funding for keeping the State Trooper from having adequate equipment in a search-and-rescue operation which had gone awry. I got pissed and wrote a piece seriously critical of Vic.

The preceding spring, Ted Stevens (now about to be indicted in the same sting) had killed legislation in the US congress to kill the National Endowment of the Arts. I wrote a song cycle, called Wild Critters to thank him for saving the NEA.

not sure, but I think their writing even overlapped. weird, huh?

Petrocelli @ 123

CTuttle @ 117

Can you please wipe the blade off, Petro, wouldn’t want the blade to rust!!! Waste of perfectly good steel!!!

Not to worry dear boy … the alcohol in my body will prevent rusting … *g*

… I hope that made you spew …

G’nite all, see you Sunday.

Sunday, you mean no Petro for two full days!!! Bwhahaha… Aah, no sparring buddy! :( Adieu, Mon Cheri!!! *g*

Same song, same crook, ET. Veco seems to have had its hooks into the republicrooks going back to 96 – and probably even before then.

Ed*ard Teller @ 126

ET cues Twilight Zone theme – {{{{ tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu}}}}

I just realized that back in the summer of 1996 I wrote back-to-back compositions dedicated to Vic Kohring and Ted Stevens.

Kohring, the Alaska state representative indicted for accepting Veco bribes, had just written an op-ed blaming arts funding for keeping the State Trooper from having adequate equipment in a search-and-rescue operation which had gone awry. I got pissed and wrote a piece seriously critical of Vic.

The preceding spring, Ted Stevens (now about to be indicted in the same sting) had killed legislation in the US congress to kill the National Endowment of the Arts. I wrote a song cycle, called Wild Critters to thank him for saving the NEA.

not sure, but I think their writing even overlapped. weird, huh?

Too Kewl!!!

CTuttle @ 121

kirk murphy @ 121

Hi CTuttle – how’re you doing?

Parrying Petro’s thrusts!!!

Hope you both get through unscathed!

And Suzanne, thanks :)

I’m off to bed – sleep well, Firepups

g’nite tb and km

Suzanne @ 127

Same song, same crook, ET. Veco seems to have had its hooks into the republicrooks going back to 96 – and probably even before then.

Joe Hazelwood made Veco. A drunk skipper with one too many on the rocks created the situation for mass hirings and cost-plus no-bid situations to create a monster. Veco was minor before, major after the Exxon Valdez spill. They performed abominally. They’ve been afflicted upon Alaska ever since. Now they’ll be able to hide behind H2CM Hill or something.

I did not realize that, et. Wow.

Suzanne @ 131

g’nite tb and km

Alas, that time of nite! I’m bidding adieu to you and the Lake, too!!! Aloha Oe, Ma Cheri!!! ;)

A disaster that just keeps on giving, ET. Looks like this type of corporate behavior is what is going to be down the road for all those cost plus no bids issued during Katrina and the occupation of Iraq – unless changes are made now to prevent republicorporations from this behavior.

I hope the feds end up being able to use Veco as the example of this is what happens when you break the law.

g’nite ct

Suzanne @ 132

I did not realize that, et. Wow.

If he ever grows up, I’d like to see Michael Moore do a film on the people wronged by that spill. If he did it with integrity, it would be a powerful film.

I must admit to having never seen a Michael Moore film. I just don’t do movies anymore – not sure why.

However, the buzz I’m hearing about Sicko just might change my movie going status.

time to take the dog for a walk and hit the hay.

night Suzanne and pups.

g’nite et. sleep well.

’bout time I drag myself out of the lake and head off to bed. g’nite all.

Europe Gets The Precautionary Principle….

And All We Get Are More Lousy Tumors

T

New EU chemical law takes effect
By Alix Kroeger
BBC News, Brussels

Legislation requiring the safety testing of tens of thousands of chemicals – many in everyday use – has come into effect across the EU.

For the first time, it will be up to industry, rather than the regulatory authorities, to prove that chemicals are safe.

But environmental and consumer groups say the new rules do not go far enough.

About 30,000 chemicals are covered by the new rules – from paints to flame retardants to fragrances in shampoos.

Safety data will be required for all of them.

The most hazardous – chemicals which can cause cancer or changes in genetic material – will have to undergo further testing.

If there is a safer alternative, producers will have to substitute it, unless there is a strong case for continuing to use the existing chemical.

[snip]

Producers are already working together to share the cost of testing, which the European Commission reckons at up to 10bn euros (7bn pounds) spread over 11 years.

But it says that is offset by the benefits to health and the environment: 97bn euros (66bn pounds) saved in health costs over the next three decades.

Common chemicals are linked to breast cancer
Of the 216 compounds, many in the air, food or everyday items.
By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer
May 14, 2007

More than 200 chemicals — many found in urban air and everyday consumer products — cause breast cancer in animal tests, according to a compilation of scientific reports published today.

Writing in a publication of the American Cancer Society, researchers concluded that reducing exposure to the compounds could prevent many women from developing the disease.

The research team from five institutions analyzed a growing body of evidence linking environmental contaminants to breast cancer, the leading killer of U.S. women in their late 30s to early 50s.

[snip]

“Overall, exposure to mammary gland carcinogens is widespread,” the researchers wrote in a special supplement to the journal Cancer. “These compounds are widely detected in human tissues and in environments, such as homes, where women spend time.”

The scientists said data were too incomplete to estimate how many breast cancer cases might be linked to chemical exposures.

But because the disease is so common and the chemicals so widespread, “the public health impacts of reducing exposures would be profound even if the true relative risks are modest,” they wrote. “If even a small percentage is due to preventable environmental factors, modifying these factors would spare thousands of women.”

[snip]

Twenty-nine of the chemicals are produced in volumes exceeding 1 million pounds annually in the United States.

Seventy-three are present in consumer products or are food contaminants — 1,4-dioxane in shampoos, for example, or acrylamide in French fries. Thirty-five are common air pollutants, 25 are in workplaces where at least 5,000 women are employed, and 10 are food additives, according to the reports.

Yum – extra breast cancer causing goodness.

There are probably many more than 216, the research team said, because only about 1,000 of the 80,000 chemicals registered for use in the United States have been tested on animals to see whether they induce cancerous tumors or mutate DNA. Such tests cost $2 million each.

Safety testing for cancer – that’s so Old Europe.

G’nite again pups.

When the lurking mod happens by, I’ve a short bit (ahem) in moderation.

Europe Gets The Precautionary Principle….

And All We Get Are More Lousy Tumors

Read the WSJ editorial this morning about how Fitz is still trying to make Libby’s “non-crime” into something serious. Nothing like the WSJ to make me sick in the morning. They are twisted.

GeorgeSimian @ 142

Read the WSJ editorial this morning about how Fitz is still trying to make Libby’s “non-crime” into something serious. Nothing like the WSJ to make me sick in the morning. They are twisted.

They richly deserve Rupert Murdoch’s embrace.
Like being kissed by your brother.

Good morning, pups. Want to get creeped out? Today Bobo is all by himself behind the firewall gushing about Fred Thompson until he puts out the Frankenstein idea that what the GOP really needs is Newt Gingrich’s brain inside Fred Thompson’s body. EEWWWWW….

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/

Coffee and tea are ready. That idea nearly put me off my feed, but there are fresh biscuits just out of the oven. TGIF, and have a wonderful day.

Oh yeah – the reason I never got to sleep?

I just read this…but I don’t think any media have yet recognized the new study’s significance.

Round-Up – the most commonly used herbicide in the world – screws up estrogen levels in human embryo cells.

A recipe for development abnormalities – and worse – in teh fetus.

…. glyphosate acts directly ….and in a dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxic, and potentially endocrine-disrupting effects of Roundup are thus amplified with time. Taken together, these data suggest that Roundup exposure may affect human reproduction and fetal development in case of contamination. Chemical mixtures in formulations appear to be underestimated regarding their toxic or hormonal impact.

Mammals and humans may be exposed to Roundup herbicide residues by agricultural practices (Acquavella et al. 2004) or when the residues enter the food chain (Takahashi et al. 2001); glyphosate is also found as a contaminant in rivers (Cox 1998).

In our previous work, we have demonstrated that the major herbicide used worldwide, Roundup, was toxic for a human placental cell line at concentrations below that recommended for agricultural use (1–2 %, i.e., with 21–42 mM glyphosate) and had endocrine-disrupting potential on estrogen synthesis at lower nontoxic doses.

When used in agricultural practice, the formulated concentrated commercial Roundup is diluted on the farm. The farmers are then often exposed to concentrated solutions (100%, ….), and then during spraying to more diluted solutions, up to 1–2%, the latter corresponding to the maximal concentrations used on the cells in this work. Pregnant women with embryonic and placental cells could be exposed during repeated herbicide preparations and generally only a few precautions are applied, since Roundup is believed to be one of the most environmentally friendly pesticides (US EPA 1998, Williams et al. 2000).

Our data demonstrated that as little as 0.01% Roundup, within only 24 h, provoked a significant reduction of 19% of estrogen production in transfected 293 cells. Estrogens are known to be necessary for normal fetal development. This Roundup dose became toxic after 72 h of exposure.

Finally, we characterized in this work the differential sensitivity for Roundup and glyphosate of human embryonic cells, placental-derived cell lines, and fresh tissue extracts from human placenta and mammalian testis. Moreover, we confirmed the potential endocrine disruption of Roundup in all models on estrogen synthesis.

Why wasn’t this found before? WNL.

We never looked.

As Roundup was more active than its claimed active ingredient in all instances, the formulation adjuvants probably allow a better cell penetration and stabilization of the product. Chemical mixtures in formulations may thus be underestimated regarding their toxic or hormonal impact (Tichy et al. 2002, Lydy et al. 2004, Monosson 2005). Most of the tests undertaken in a regulatory context are in fact performed with the active ingredient alone in vivo for one or two years (Williams et al. 2000). For instance, toxicity was not measured for Roundup treatments during more than 22 days with rats and rabbits. The potency for endocrine modulation was not assessed with the Roundup mixture at all, but only with glyphosate or POEA alone (Williams et al. 2000). Consequently, our experiments with Roundup should be also conducted on entire organisms in vivo. As emphasized by Brian et al. (2005), we can conclude that the failure to account for the combined effects, in particular with adjuvants, will undoubtedly lead to the underestimation of potential hazards, especially at the endocrine disruption level, and hence to erroneous conclusions at a regulatory level regarding the risk that they provoke. Thus, the toxic or hormonal impact of chemical mixtures in formulations appears to be underestimated.

Oh well – it’s just the most commonly used herbicide in the world.

It is the most used herbicide in the world, and the top-selling agrichemical of all time. In the US 25 million applications are used every year on lawns and yards and 18-48 million pounds are used annually in US agriculture.

wiki

Used on all those Round-Up ready toxic mutant GMO crops.

Bon Appetit!

Marion, thanks so much.

Is it OK if I have decaf?

Kirk, of course. I’ve got some 100% Columbian decaf that’s delicious. Have a cup.

Good Morning, Firepups!

Sunny and mild in central Jersey, with a forecast for the mid- to high-80s today, with thunderstorms possible in the afternoon or evening.

Some good news: Mr. NJP’s mom was transferred to a rehab facility yesterday, as she recovers from surgery. She’ll get lots of therapy before going home. She was hospitalized on April 21 with acute colitis. It’s been quite a time for Mr. NJP, his parents, and his sister.

Marion, thanks for the coffee and biscuits. I’ll have mine when I get back from a bike ride. Can’t swim for a while: still recovering from a bad case of poison ivy I gave myself, cleaning out garden beds at my mom’s house on Mother’s Day.

Work for peace, every day.

Oh – all due thanks to the commenter early in the week who kindly requested demanded peer-reviewed publications to support a cited report (translated from Le Monde)…

that described a peer-reviewed scientific journal article about Monsanto’s toxic mutant GMO corn MON 863.

Obliging soul that I am, I had to look hard to find the journal. Sweated teh Google, I tell ya.

The first paragraph of the translated Le Monde article stated:

Allowed to go on the market in France and Europe, MON 863, a transgenic corn invented by Monsanto, has been at the center of a controversy over its innocuousness for over two years (April 23rd, 2004, Le Monde). These debates could resume after the March 13th publication in “Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology” of a study suggesting this genetically modified organism (GMO) is toxic to the liver and kidneys.

Browsing around the journal led to the Roundup breaking news above.

Heh.

Oh – the results on Monsanto’s toxic mutant GMO corn MON 863?

Kidney and liver damage

Chemistry measurements reveal signs of hepatorenal toxicity, marked also by differential sensitivities in males and females. Triglycerides increased by 24–40% in females (either at week 14, dose 11% or at week 5, dose 33%, respectively); urine phosphorus and sodium excretions diminished in males by 31–35% (week 14, dose 33%) for the most important results significantly linked to the treatment in comparison to seven diets tested. Longer experiments are essential in order to indicate the real nature and extent of the possible pathology; with the present data it cannot be concluded that GM corn MON863 is a safe product.

Kidney and liver damage.

Well golllly.

Without the peer-reviewed article text, whod’a thunk it?

Glad we straightened that out.

Bon Appetit!

‘Morning, FirePups. Thanks for the coffee, Marion, don’t mind if I do.

Kirk, I owe you an email…and yeah, I’m not sleeping much these days, either. Why are they not checking every agricultural chemical for endocrine disruption? Never ceases to amaze me that they don’t look. And having worked for a BigChem company, it doesn’t make any sense; you’d think they’d want to mitigate risk since it’s a cost of goods sold over time.

kirk murphy @ 149

Oh – the results on Monsanto’s toxic mutant GMO corn MON 863?

Kidney and liver damage

Chemistry measurements reveal signs of hepatorenal toxicity, marked also by differential sensitivities in males and females. Triglycerides increased by 24–40% in females (either at week 14, dose 11% or at week 5, dose 33%, respectively); urine phosphorus and sodium excretions diminished in males by 31–35% (week 14, dose 33%) for the most important results significantly linked to the treatment in comparison to seven diets tested. Longer experiments are essential in order to indicate the real nature and extent of the possible pathology; with the present data it cannot be concluded that GM corn MON863 is a safe product.

Kidney and liver damage.

Well golllly.

Without the peer-reviewed article text, whod’a thunk it?

Glad we straightened that out.

Bon Appetit!

Jeebus. I have a friend who’s a kidney transplant patient – this would kill him first, likely damage my kids next, and then adults like us.

Is this sh*t in our human food chain? or is it like Starlink, allegedly in the animal feed only?

Marion, thanks for the yummy organic coffess and the delicious biscuits. I’m so glad to be able to join you on a morning at the Lake.

NJP, I’m gald for the milestone in your mom-in-law’s recovery – and I hope the posion oak leaves soon.

And Rayne – please don’t sweat the email.

Our poisoned planet – that’s another matter.

Mornin’ all!

Rayne,
I consider the lack of consideration of future consequences endemic of the general MBA Management approach applied to our country.
Want an example writ large?
Iraq.
The planning event horizen is the decider’s expected term of office.
Whether the Presidency or corporate executive.
After that it is somebody else’s problem.

This is the paradigm shift in leadership run by corporation rather than individual.

Lebanese army masses around refugee camp

Under the cover of artillery barrages, dozens of Lebanese army tanks and armored carriers moved toward a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon Friday in pursuit of Islamic militants holed up inside.

morning!

let’s not forget the workers with our organic coffee – fair trade anyone?

p.s. i have trouble finding coffee that is both fair trade and labeled organic. any suggestions?

Bush climate plan “the classic U.S. line”: EU

“The declaration by President Bush basically restates the U.S. classic line on climate change — no mandatory reductions, no carbon trading and vaguely expressed objectives,” EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, according to his spokeswoman.

“The U.S. approach has proven to be ineffective in reducing emissions,” Dimas added of Bush’s call on Thursday for 15 major countries to agree by 2008 on a long-term goal for cutting emissions.

Hey Rayne, are you coming to the TCC panel discussion on Monday, in Second Life?

We’re gonna be talking to Arianna’s avatar after the panel.

Maybe some Dodd content, pre-debate, on Sunday.

selise @ 157

morning!

let’s not forget the workers with our organic coffee – fair trade anyone?

p.s. i have trouble finding coffee that is both fair trade and labeled organic. any suggestions?

I am drinking fair trade organic Guatemalan right now. I got it at a local coffee shop and am not sure if they sell over web/fone but can look into it if you like.

Rayne @ 152

kirk murphy @ 149

Oh – the results on Monsanto’s toxic mutant GMO corn MON 863?

Kidney and liver damage

Kidney and liver damage.

Well golllly.

Without the peer-reviewed article text, whod’a thunk it?

Glad we straightened that out.

Bon Appetit!

Jeebus. I have a friend who’s a kidney transplant patient – this would kill him first, likely damage my kids next, and then adults like us.

Is this sh*t in our human food chain? or is it like Starlink, allegedly in the animal feed only?

Yes. No.

Mon 863 is a Bt maize developed by Monsanto to kill the corn rootworm, which attacks the roots of maize plants. It has been approved in the USA in 2002 and was planted there with mixed success for the first time on commercial scale in 2004. The corn rootworm has been inadvertedly imported from the USA to Europe ten years ago and is expanding since in some areas.
During the risk assessment of Mon 863 serious scientific questions on the maize safety for humans and animals arose, as rat feeding studies showed significant health impacts. The concerns have been dismissed by the European Food Safety Authorities Scientific Committee. Approval of Mon 863 for human consumption and animal feed has been granted in January 2006 against a majority of member states votes in the Council of ministers (June 2005) by the European Commission in January 2006. No application has been submitted so far for cultivation.

[great mon 863 factsheet at save our seeds]

Bon Appetit!

nyt:

The committee rejected by one vote a Democratic proposal that would essentially have cut money for the program by banning harsh interrogation techniques except in dire emergencies, a committee report revealed.

i’m trying to figure out if i’m more pissed off at bill nelson for voting with the Rs against this bill – or with the Ds for including the ginormous loop hole of “except in dire emergencies”.

Cheney?

twolf1 @ 159

thanks! i may ask you to follow up on that… first let me see what i can find roasted locally.

kirk murphy @ 160 –

some days i really think we’re not going to make it… maybe i should go back to sleep for a few minutes so i can start the day again.

jayackroyd @ 158

Hey Rayne, are you coming to the TCC panel discussion on Monday, in Second Life?

We’re gonna be talking to Arianna’s avatar after the panel.

Maybe some Dodd content, pre-debate, on Sunday.

I can give it shot, jay, put it on my calendar. Getting ready to take the boy to school, will look into timing when I get back.

Mack (154) — It just doesn’t make sense to me, none of it. Haven’t been through an MBA yet, but I’ve been in business school during the last 10 years and I just don’t see how all this crap can go so badly without one of two things happening (or both): excessive focus on profitability to the point where business operates wearing blinders, or deliberate evasion of the truth to the same end.

more on the intelligence authorization act passed out of the senate intelligence committee from marty lederman’s detailed analysis.

covers such topics as: CIA Interrogations (torture), NSA Electronic Surveillance and FISA and Congressional Oversight

Oops – sorry selise.

The Roundup estrogen disruption is really grim news…but also…

I think it means we’ll tank Monsanto , if that helps.

Guess I’m off to try the bed reset myself

Time to toddle off to sleep and not dream of Monsanto

mmm…Monsanto…..

Terminator seeds, Frankenfoods, Agent Orange, PCB’s….and Roundup

Monsanto

Food and Health and Hope

[h/t seize the day]

Rayne,
I don’t think they *teach* the philosophy in every business school.
(well, maybe U of C)
Personal observation:
People who get MBAs as a carreer move tend to move from corporation to corporation, their performance measured greatly by short-term gains.
Sole proprietors, and family run businesses tend to have longer event horizens.
The fatal flaw of the Conservative mindset is that rational self-interest yields optimal (or even acceptable) results for society as a whold.
If the long-term survival of my company is not a primary concern, I can make decisions to ignore health impplications of new technology.
My gamble is that by the time the effects are generally recognized, I will be immunized from the consequences by time, statute or wealth.
*My* children will be able to afford organic foods.
Or, if I am the President, I gamble that Iraq will be my sucessor(s)’s problem and I have an Argentinian ranch as an escape hatch.

Good morning pups!

An Egghead for the Oval Office

…When I look at what the next president will have to deal with, I don’t see much that can be solved with just a winning smile, a firm handshake and a ton of resolve. I see conundrums, dilemmas, quandaries, impasses, gnarly thickets of fateful possibility with no obvious way out. Iraq is the obvious place he or she will have to start; I want a president smart enough to figure out how to minimize the damage…

off2work

Monsanto is a very bad company. If you ever read that book on it, you would see how sick the very nature of this company is.

And you don’t mention the millions and millions of acres sprayed on forests in Colombia as part of the War on Drugs. Wonder who thought that great idea up.

OK, a quick roundup of bad Bush stuff today…

Here’s a WaPo editorial on how Bush “reverse engineered” the evidence he needed to justify his torture legislation.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02007.html

Here’s the head of NASA in an NPR interview yesterday making weird statements about Global Warming that have nothing to do with scientific fact. Another Bushie put into another branch of Govt to screw it all up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06…..ref=slogin

Then there’s the big headline today that Bush has decided to give a little attention to Global Warming while taking pre-emptive steps against the G8 that he’s meeting next week. Spun a variety of ways, depending on who’s reporting.

Not a big fan of Noonan’s, but this is powerful stuff – http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/

We need to get the word out on this split and press hard. Who knows, we might actually end this administration before 08′.

twolf1 @ 158

Bush climate plan “the classic U.S. line”: EU
“The declaration by President Bush basically restates the U.S. classic line on climate change — no mandatory reductions, no carbon trading and vaguely expressed objectives,” EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said, according to his spokeswoman.

“The U.S. approach has proven to be ineffective in reducing emissions,” Dimas added of Bush’s call on Thursday for 15 major countries to agree by 2008 on a long-term goal for cutting emissions.

just saw a crawl on MSNBC… Bush is urging that everybody agree by the end of next year on a global target for reducing greenhouse gases.

Yep. That’s out Georgie. Late to the game, wrong game plan, and demanding that everybody play by his rules. With a deadline.

Watch out, EU. Y’all know what happens when countries don’t comply with GWB’s demands. Bombs away!

I’m gonna go to Europe and corner the market on plastic sheeting and duct tape.

New thread upstairs…

Mack @ 168

Rayne,
I don’t think they *teach* the philosophy in every business school.
(well, maybe U of C)
Personal observation:
People who get MBAs as a carreer move tend to move from corporation to corporation, their performance measured greatly by short-term gains.
Sole proprietors, and family run businesses tend to have longer event horizens.
The fatal flaw of the Conservative mindset is that rational self-interest yields optimal (or even acceptable) results for society as a whold.
If the long-term survival of my company is not a primary concern, I can make decisions to ignore health impplications of new technology.
My gamble is that by the time the effects are generally recognized, I will be immunized from the consequences by time, statute or wealth.
*My* children will be able to afford organic foods.
Or, if I am the President, I gamble that Iraq will be my sucessor(s)’s problem and I have an Argentinian ranch as an escape hatch.

There is something to that; students are not taught how to do broad modeling of decision making to look for unintended consequences of choices. And don’t get me started on ethics…I was fortunate to have an excellent professor (a former judge) who used not an American textbook but an English textbook on the subject. Much of what students learn is either abstruse and archaic or shallow, instead of adequate examination of practical applications.

There is a lot of MBA-hopping, but in my experience it happens at the highest echelons of business; the breadth of Fortune 500 companies consists of people who will stay put within the organization for 7 to 10 years or longer, some of them earning their MBA’s as working students during their tenure with the company. In these cases, leaving the company is often restricted if the company is reimbursing tuition. It’s these students that should be doing a better job by the company — but they are also not likely to crack the top echelon, unfortunately.

In any of these cases, there is pressure to produce a profit quarter after quarter; anything that doesn’t produce an immediate result or can’t be rationalized into near-term profits is streamlined and cut away. My hunch is that testing for safety in the case of GMO products is limited to checking for yield, with limited testing for toxicity. I can see the MBA hopping folks at the very top demanding these quarter-over-quarter profits, with persons in the trenches being forced to focus so tightly on profit that they can’t look around to foresee problems.

Ultimately, the real blame for this goes to shareholders, who are the engine of pressure for the profit demand, who could well dictate to the boards of directors and management that lower profits are preferable to unsafe products that damage their brands. That may be where the MBA hopping does the most damage, when financial firms look less at the impact of any business at macro level and only look at financial performance on micro level.

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

Punaise – did you hear the definition of “punaise” in the Bee? I think it was ‘bedbug’. LOL

KathieinMN @ 179

punaise @ 55

local boy (home schooled!) makes good, wins national spelling bee…says he prefers math and music to orthography.

Punaise – did you hear the definition of “punaise” in the Bee? I think it was ‘bedbug’. LOL

yeah, that’s side of the family we don’t talk about. It also means thumbtack/pushpin.

I subscribe to Times Select. I have recently decided that I am no longer even going to bother to read David Brooks’s columns, much less save them to my Times File. I’m hoping that the powers that be at the Times are tracking the relative popularity of their various Times Select columnists and might start dropping those whose columns are less often saved. I long since quit reading Tom Friedman and Maureen Dowd. Bob Herbert, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, and sometimes Nicholas Kristof are the only regulars worth bothering with.