Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hamburger Horror .........and y'all thought hot dogs were bad.......read on


CLICK LINK TO READ ALL OF THIS ONE..... Stephanie Smith, a children’s dance instructor, thought she had a stomach virus. The aches and cramping were tolerable that first day, and she finished her classes.Then her diarrhea turned bloody. Her kidneys shut down. Seizures knocked her unconscious. The convulsions grew so relentless that doctors had to put her in a coma for nine weeks. When she emerged, she could no longer walk. The affliction had ravaged her nervous system and left her paralyzed. Ms. Smith, 22, was found to have a severe form of food-borne illness caused by E. coli, which Minnesota officials traced to the hamburger that her mother had grilled for their Sunday dinner in early fall 2007.Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.Ms. Smith’s reaction to the virulent strain of E. coli was extreme, but tracing the story of her burger, through interviews and government and corporate records obtained by The New York Times, shows why eating ground beef is still a gamble. Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe. Ground beef is usually not simply a chunk of meat run through a grinder. Instead, records and interviews show, a single portion of hamburger meat is often an amalgam of various grades of meat from different parts of cows and even from different slaughterhouses. These cuts of meat are particularly vulnerable to E. coli contamination, food experts and officials say. Despite this, there is no federal requirement for grinders to test their ingredients for the pathogen. The frozen hamburgers that the Smiths ate, which were made by the food giant Cargill, were labeled “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.” Yet confidential grinding logs and other Cargill records show that the hamburgers were made from a mix of slaughterhouse trimmings and a mash-like product derived from scraps that were ground together at a plant in Wisconsin. The ingredients came from slaughterhouses in Nebraska, Texas and Uruguay, and from a South Dakota company that processes fatty trimmings and treats them with ammonia to kill bacteria.
Using a combination of sources — a practice followed by most large producers of fresh and packaged hamburger — allowed Cargill to spend about 25 percent less than it would have for cuts of whole meat. Those low-grade ingredients are cut from areas of the cow that are more likely to have had contact with feces, which carries E. coli, industry research shows. Yet Cargill, like most meat companies, relies on its suppliers to check for the bacteria and does its own testing only after the ingredients are ground together. The United States Department of Agriculture, which allows grinders to devise their own safety plans, has encouraged them to test ingredients first as a way of increasing the chance of finding contamination. Unwritten agreements between some companies appear to stand in the way of ingredient testing. Many big slaughterhouses will sell only to grinders who agree not to test their shipments for E. coli, according to officials at two large grinding companies. Slaughterhouses fear that one grinder’s discovery of E. coli will set off a recall of ingredients they sold to others.

THE SAFER SIDE Craig Wilson, food safety director for Costco, one of the few big producers that tests trimmings for E. coli before grinding.

“Ground beef is not a completely safe product,” said Dr. Jeffrey Bender, a food safety expert at the University of Minnesota who helped develop systems for tracing E. coli contamination. He said that while outbreaks had been on the decline, “unfortunately it looks like we are going a bit in the opposite direction.”

Food scientists have registered increasing concern about the virulence of this pathogen since only a few stray cells can make someone sick, and they warn that federal guidance to cook meat thoroughly and to wash up afterward is not sufficient. A test by The Times found that the safe handling instructions are not enough to prevent the bacteria from spreading in the kitchen.
Cargill, whose $116.6 billion in revenues last year made it the country’s largest private company, declined requests to interview company officials or visit its facilities. “Cargill is not in a position to answer your specific questions, other than to state that we are committed to continuous improvement in the area of food safety,” the company said, citing continuing litigation.

In the weeks before Ms. Smith’s patty was made, federal inspectors had repeatedly found that Cargill was violating its own safety procedures in handling ground beef, but they imposed no fines or sanctions, records show. After the outbreak, the department threatened to withhold the seal of approval that declares “U.S. Inspected and Passed by the Department of Agriculture.”

In the end, though, the agency accepted Cargill’s proposal to increase its scrutiny of suppliers. That agreement came early last year after contentious negotiations, records show. When Cargill defended its safety system and initially resisted making some changes, an agency official wrote back: “How is food safety not the ultimate issue?”

The Risk

On Aug. 16, 2007, the day Ms. Smith’s hamburger was made, the No.3 grinder at the Cargill plant in Butler, Wis., started up at 6:50 a.m. The largest ingredient was beef trimmings known as “50/50” — half fat, half meat — that cost about 60 cents a pound, making them the cheapest component.

Cargill bought these trimmings — fatty edges sliced from better cuts of meat — from Greater Omaha Packing, where some 2,600 cattle are slaughtered daily and processed in a plant the size of four football fields.
Ms. Smith’s burger also contained trimmings from a slaughterhouse in Uruguay, where government officials insist that they have never found E. coli O157:H7 in meat. Yet audits of Uruguay’s meat operations conducted by the U.S.D.A. have found sanitation problems, including improper testing for the pathogen. Dr. Hector J. Lazaneo, a meat safety official in Uruguay, said the problems were corrected immediately. “Everything is fine, finally,” he said. “That is the reason we are exporting.”

Cargill’s final source was a supplier that turns fatty trimmings into what it calls “fine lean textured beef.” The company, Beef Products Inc., said it bought meat that averages between 50 percent and 70 percent fat, including “any small pieces of fat derived from the normal breakdown of the beef carcass.” It warms the trimmings, removes the fat in a centrifuge and treats the remaining product with ammonia to kill E. coli.

With seven million pounds produced each week, the company’s product is widely used in hamburger meat sold by grocers and fast-food restaurants and served in the federal school lunch program. Ten percent of Ms. Smith’s burger came from Beef Products, which charged Cargill about $1.20 per pound, or 20 cents less than the lean trimmings in the burger, billing records show.

In combining the ingredients, Cargill was following a common industry practice of mixing trim from various suppliers to hit the desired fat content for the least money, industry officials said.

In all, the ingredients for Ms. Smith’s burger cost Cargill about $1 a pound, company records show, or about 30 cents less than industry experts say it would cost for ground beef made from whole cuts of meat.

Ground beef sold by most grocers is made from a blend of ingredients, industry officials said. Agriculture Department regulations also allow hamburger meat labeled ground chuck or sirloin to contain trimmings from those parts of the cow. At a chain like Publix Super Markets, customers who want hamburger made from whole cuts of meat have to buy a steak and have it specially ground, said a Publix spokeswoman, Maria Brous, or buy a product like Bubba Burgers, which boasts on its labeling, “100% whole muscle means no trimmings.”

To finish off the Smiths’ ground beef, Cargill added bread crumbs and spices, fashioned it into patties, froze them and packed them 18 to a carton.The listed ingredients revealed little of how the meat was made. There was just one meat product listed: “Beef.”

THE THREAT “In a warm kitchen, E. coli cells will double every 45 minutes,” said Dr. Mansour Samadpour, a microbiologist who runs IEH Laboratories.


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Cell phones do kill, woman distracted by phone is plowed down by train

Newark Police said a woman was struck and killed by a train near the University of Delaware campus Monday morning.

Witnesses said the victim, a 25-year-old waitress at the Eagle Diner, was hit by a CSX freight train on the 100 block of Elkton Road just before 8:30 a.m.

Co-workers said the victim normally works the night-shift, but came to the diner for breakfast. After eating, co-workers said she decided to go to a nearby friend's house.

Witnesses reported the victim was distracted by a cell phone conversation when she was struck by the train.

WHY ARE WE BOMBING THE MOON?


NASA's mission to bomb the Moon

The ship is carrying a missile that will blast a hole in the lunar surface at twice the speed of a bullet. The missile, a Centaur rocket, will be steered by a shepherding spacecraft that will guide it towards its target - a crater close to the Moon's south pole. Scientists expect the blast to be so powerful that a huge plume of debris will be ejected.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

ORLANDO MAN KILLED BY DEADLY LAKE AMOBEA

ORLANDO -- A 22-year-old man has died from an apparent amoeba infection.The man had been in the hospital since Sept. 20. The death comes after three Central Florida boys died in 2007 after being exposed to an amoeba infection.

Although contracting an amoeba infection can be rare, the Orange County Health Department said it can happen year-round. Amoeba can cause an infection by traveling up the nose to the brain and spinal cord.Although the man’s family said he was infected after swimming in a local body of water, the health department will not test any of the lakes. They said they don't want to create a false sense of security because one part of the lake can have the amoeba, while another part may be fine to swim in. No signs will be posted either. The health department said everyone should assume there are amoeba and be careful.Health officials advised people to:


Assume all lakes have this menace. Central Florida has had the most cases.
Blow your nose forcefully after swimming, this should remove the killer amobea

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

GEORGIA FLOODING HORROR "AT LEAST 8 KILLED"

AUSTELL, GA. - Neighborhoods, schools and even roller coasters at Six Flags over Georgia were awash in several feet of murky, brown water Tuesday, and officials warned worried residents to wait for the floodwaters to recede before checking out their damaged homes.

Torrential Southeast rains soaked the region for days, and at least eight people have died since an onslaught of bad weather began late Sunday. A Tennessee man was still missing.

Washed-out roads and flooded freeways around metro Atlanta caused commuters headaches and hundreds of residents sought refuge in shelters. About 120 residents of a Tennessee retirement center were evacuated by boats and trucks and others were ferried from low-lying neighborhoods and motels in a Chattanooga suburb as two nearby creeks continued to rise.

Georgia emergency officials said they were confident those in immediate danger had been evacuated, but were concerned about residents attempting to return to their homes too soon.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

NATURAL BORN LIAR ???


CHANGE WE COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT

LIAR !!!!!!!!!!!


OH GEPPETO, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, BUT I DON'T MEAN TO LIE. FOX NEWS MAKES ME.

Pompous Prince Charles urges people to abandon car in favour of walking and public transport

" I CAN DRIVE BUT YOU CAN'T"

The Prince, who has two Jaguars, two Audis, a Range Rover and still drives an Aston Martin given to him by the Queen on his 21st birthday, said developers had a duty to put public transport and the pedestrian at the heart of their housing schemes.

Brits tell Prince to ..........................
"Piss off ya big eared wanker"
"GOD SAVE THE QUEEN"

Poet eate Philip Larkin used the word in the opening lines of one of his poems, writing one of those sentences which is

LIAR!!!!!!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

"REAL LIFE JAWS" PILOT SEES GREAT WHITES CHARGING SURFERS DIVERS


Scary sights on Chatham shark search

Pilot sees great whites charge diver, surfer

There was no blood in the water, but the great whites clearly sensed something.From the cockpit of his Piper Super Cub, George Breen spent much of Tuesday afternoon circling the waters south of Chatham, helping a state research team spot sharks hunting for seals in the past week.As the pilot kept a lookout for the long, dark shadows lurking in the clear water, he saw something harrowing: sharks racing toward swimmers.“They definitely knew they were out there,’’ Breen said of the sharks. “Whether they’d bite them, I don’t know.’’The research team tagged three great whites Tuesday, bringing to five the number of sharks tagged with tracking devices in the past week. The discovery of sharks off Chatham forced the indefinite closure of the town’s beaches, but some ignored warnings not to swim in the area.In one instance, Breen said, he watched a shark approach a diver from a documentary crew making a film about the researchers. Breen said he was circling above the filmmakers’ boat when the diver jumped into the water to retrieve a piece of equipment. “I saw a shark going real slow about a quarter-mile away, ’’ Breen said, “and then when the diver jumped in, all of a sudden, I saw the shark head right for the boat, going from about 2 knots to 10 to 15 knots in an instant.’’He radioed the crew on the boat to get the diver out - right away. The diver, attached to a tether, was pulled out.“The shark definitely smelled something,’’ Breen said. “Their sensory perception is unbelievable. The shark was only about 100 feet [away] when they pulled the diver out.’’It was not clear whether the diver retrieved the equipment.Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, declined to identify the diver or the film company. Breen said he didn’t know their names.Shortly afterward, Breen said, he watched another shark dart toward a man surfing in the waters off Orleans. He said the surfer, who probably never saw the submerged fish, walked ashore as the shark got within about 100 yards of him. “All I can say is I think he’s just one lucky dude,’’ Breen said. “He was pointed right at the surfer.’’ Dan Tobin, director of Parks and Recreation for Chatham, said most people have avoided swimming in the area. He said he was not worried about the sharks affecting tourism.“I think the curiosity factor has kept people in town,’’ he said, “but I guess we’re fortunate that this is the end of the swimming season."

Deranged Stockbroker (with Obama Ties) Tries to Kill Teenagers By Throwing Deadly Jellyfish..........

DO YOU LIKE MY BODY?

MADEIRA BEACH -- An Obama campaign director
who witnesses said had been drinking since 9 a.m. was arrested Monday afternoon after authorities say he created a disturbance by pretending to drown and throw jellyfish at teenagers. Keith Edward Marriott, of 100 154th Ave. in Madeira Beach, faces charges of disorderly intoxication and carrying a concealed weapon after a pocketknife was found in his shorts, Pinellas County sheriff's deputies said. Marriott repeatedly submerged himself and floated to the surface, "causing concern for his safety," and was "loud and disruptive," according to a sheriff's report.
Then he started throwing sea creatures.
Marriott, who is listed on arrest reports as working for a brokerage company, was being held at Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $250 bail.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Abusing School Kids With Pro-Obama Propaganda (by Michael Medved)

(NOSTALGICALLY BRINGS ME BACK TO THE DAYS OF MY HITLER YOUTH)

My wife Diane seldom gets upset about politics. But President Barack Obama’s recent demonstration of megalomania in insisting on beginning the school year by simultaneously addressing all public school kids in the United States elicited a concise response: “it’s sick.”

On September 8th (the first day of classes for many school kids) the President will address them live about the importance of education. The President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals and take responsibility for their learning, declares an announcement from Washington. The Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, sent a directive to teachers and administrators declaring: “This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation’s school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and begin the school year strong. I encourage you, your teachers, and students to join me in watching the President deliver this address on Tuesday, September 8, 2009.”

To prepare for this great event, the Department of Education orders teachers in Grades 7 to 12 to ask their students: Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us? How will he challenge us? After the great event, the department suggests that teachers of younger students (Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 6) should instruct their students to write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These should be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.

For those who consider this an appropriate use of classroom time at the very beginning of the school year, ask yourself the question: how would you respond had President Bush ordered teachers to get students to write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president?

Public opinion surveys show a precipitous decline in the presidents approval rating, with a majority of likely voters (according to Rasmussen) now disapproving of Barack Obama’s leadership. Imagine the reaction of one of these anti-Obama parents to a first grader who comes home proudly announcing that our whole class made promises about helping President Obama.

If the purpose in the Presidents speech involves inspiration of African-American youngsters who otherwise might feel discouraged by their prospects in school, why not allow the First Lady to give the address in place of her husband? Michelle Obama (like most Presidential wives) has functioned as a non-political, non-partisan national symbol and she actually grew up in an African-American home on the South Side of Chicago not raised, as her husband was, by a white mother Ph.D. in Indonesia, and by a white grandmother bank vice president in Hawaii.

And if the purpose is encouragement for educational excellence, rather than political promotion of the President and his agenda, why not give some additional time to Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, whose black single mother worked by cleaning homes and taking in laundry, not as an anthropological researcher?

A number of teachers have reacted with appropriate indignation to the misuse of public resources and precious school time to encourage the cult of Obama worship. Carole (not her real name), a gutsy middle school teacher in the Midwest, discussed the upcoming speech on my radio show on Monday. Teachers from four different states called in to say that they would follow her example and refuse to devote class hours to watching and discussing the presidential address.

Challenges from parents and taxpayers everywhere could force a change in White House plans. The idea of using government schools to force students to bond with the maximum leader might seem appropriate for Cuba or North Korea, but it’s clearly out of place in a Constitutional republic.

Obama, The Mortal (By Charles Krauthammer)


(THIS IS A GOOD SYNOPSIS OF BARRY O)

WASHINGTON -- What happened to President Obama? His wax wings having melted, he is the man who fell to earth. What happened to bring his popularity down further than that of any new president in polling history save Gerald Ford (post-Nixon pardon)?The conventional wisdom is that Obama made a tactical mistake by farming out his agenda to Congress and allowing himself to be pulled left by the doctrinaire liberals of the Democratic congressional leadership. But the idea of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi pulling Obama left is quite ridiculous. Where do you think he came from, this friend of Chavista ex-terrorist William Ayers, of PLO apologist Rashid Khalidi, of racialist inciter Jeremiah Wright?

But forget the character witnesses. Just look at Obama's behavior as president, beginning with his first address to Congress. Unbidden, unforced and unpushed by the congressional leadership, Obama gave his most deeply felt vision of America, delivering the boldest social democratic manifesto ever issued by a U.S. president. In American politics, you can't get more left than that speech and still be on the playing field.

In a center-right country, that was problem enough. Obama then compounded it by vastly misreading his mandate. He assumed it was personal. This, after winning by a mere seven points in a year of true economic catastrophe, of an extraordinarily unpopular Republican incumbent, and of a politically weak and unsteady opponent. Nonetheless, Obama imagined that, as Fouad Ajami so brilliantly observed, he had won the kind of banana-republic plebiscite that grants caudillo-like authority to remake everything in one's own image.

Accordingly, Obama unveiled his plans for a grand makeover of the American system, animating that vision by enacting measure after measure that greatly enlarged state power, government spending and national debt. Not surprisingly, these measures engendered powerful popular skepticism that burst into tea-party town-hall resistance. ............CONTINUE... http://worl660.townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2009/09/04/obama,_the_mortal

Stetson dropout charged in student rape at dorm

DON'T WORRY THIS SCUMBAG WAS RELEASED THE SAME DAY TO CONTINUE HIS RAPING WAYS
DELAND -- A Stetson dropout is accused of raping a female student in the lobby of her dorm after a fraternity party, police said.
Justin Schluraff, 19, of Daytona Beach was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with sexual battery on an 18-year-old student, DeLand police said. He was released the same day from the Volusia County Branch Jail on $5,000 bail.

Justin Schluraff, 19, of Daytona Beach was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with sexual battery on an 18-year-old student, DeLand police said. He was released the same day from the Volusia County Branch Jail on $5,000 bail.According to a charging affidavit, the incident happened after the party, possibly at the Kappa Phi House, at 2:15 a.m. Saturday when Schluraff -- a sophomore when he last attended the university -- agreed to walk the female student to her dorm at Conrad Hall. The girl did not have the key to the dorm complex so she knocked on the window of her room to wake up her roommate.Once inside, the girl and Schluraff stayed in the lobby of the dormitory to watch television. During that time, Schluraff started getting aggressive with the victim, according to the report. He started kissing her on the neck and touching her. She tried to push Schluraff away, but he forcibly laid her on her back on a large couch, pulled off her shorts and underwear and raped her, the police report states.The girl told police she tried to push Schluraff away, but he pushed himself harder on her, telling her, "Look at me," police said.After Schluraff left, police said, the woman called a friend in Kansas, who contacted Stetson security.The student told police it was the first time she had seen Schluraff, and they both had been drinking beer, the report states.At 7 p.m. Saturday, Schluraff sent a text message to the woman in which he apologized for "making the (woman) have sex with him," police said.The accuser and her roommate positively identified Schluraff from a photo lineup presented to them by investigators, the report states.Police said Schluraff admitted to investigators he forced the woman to have sex.The suspect's mother, Julia Schluraff, was reached at home Thursday and said she and her son had no comment.Stetson University's executive director of public relations, Mary Anne Rogers, said in a prepared statement that the university was aware of the incident."The safety of our students at Stetson University is a high priority. The university takes reports of sexual assault very seriously," the statement said.

Stay Out of the water, Daytona Battles Billions of Killer Jelly Fish


DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. -- Volusia County lifeguard stations are flying purple flags, indicative of dangerous marine life, and they're stocking up on vinegar and other cures for jellyfish stings.
According to beach patrol officials, the area that includes Daytona Beach is virtually under siege as hundreds of giant, opaque jellyfish are washing up.
Officials said the jellyfish are about 10-inches long, with long trailing purple tentacles; and they pack a respectable sting.
Beach patrol officials said that the same currents, which are washing these jellyfish ashore now, are probably going to keep sending them to the beach throughout the Labor Day holiday.Beachgoers are being advised to be on the look out for these sea creatures.

Police: Boy Flashed At Volusia County Mall

"THESE FREAKS NEED TO BE PUT OUT OF OUR MISERY"
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. Police in Daytona Beach say a boy, 13, who was visiting his godparents, was flashed by a man in a Sears restroom at the Volusia Mall.
According to police records, this was the same bathroom where authorities arrested nine men, including a local city commissioner, for soliciting sex in 2007.
Authorities said that, in this episode, the suspect made graphic suggestions to the teenager.
The teen got away and his relatives informed the officers, according to incident reports.
Authorities said they hoped that video surveillance footage outside the restroom will give them a good image of the suspect.

Controversial (THE GUYS A TRUE SOCIALIST) Obama Administration Official Denies Being Part of 9/11 "Truther" Movement, Apologizes for Past Comments


A top environmental official of the Obama administration issued a statement Thursday apologizing for past incendiary statement and denying that he ever agreed with a 2004 petition on which his name appears, a petition calling for congressional hearings and an investigation by the New York Attorney General into "evidence that suggests high-level government officials may have deliberately allowed the September 11th attacks to occur."

He did not explain how his name came to be on the petition. An administration source said Jones says he did not carefully review the language in the petition before agreeing to add his name.

DOES ANYONE BUY THIS?
Publish Post

UNEMPLOYMENT AT 26 YEAR HIGH


OBAMAS F U WAVE


THE HONEYMOON IS OVER

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Homeless man bursts into flames after being Tasered by police


SCUMBAG JUSTICE

A homeless man caught fire after U.S. police shocked him with a Taser gun, it has been revealed.Daniel Wood, 31, was allegedly sniffing gas from an aerosol can as he ran through traffic when he was chased by two officers in Lancaster, Ohio.One officer caught Wood and got him on the ground, where Wood continued to resist, according to the police report.Another officer shouted a warning, then zapped Wood with the Taser, the report said.Wood immediately burst into flames that covered his torso.The officers were forced to drop their weapons and beat out the flames.Wood said: 'My complete right half of my upper body is burned. 'I have bandages from my wrist all the way up my arm and across my chest.'He admitted he had been inhaling vapours from a chemical cleaner in an attempt to get 'high'.Wood had been resisting arrest by attempting to bite the officers and lashing out with his feet.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bottled-water scam finally feels squeeze

WE DON’T MISS the water when the cash runs dry. Bottled water, that is. That refreshing news came recently as Nestle reported nearly a 5 percent drop in bottled water sales in North America and Western Europe. That company bottles water under the familiar names of Poland Spring, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, and Deer Park.

Pepsi’s Aquafina and Coke’s Dasani reported declining or weakening bottled-water sales as well. The president of Pepsi’s North American bottling group, Rob King, said in a July conference call, “In just a tough economic environment, one of the first things that a shopper can do is consume tap water as opposed to purchasing bottled water.’’

The sad part is that ending the bottled-water fad took a recession, when common sense should have kicked in long ago.

While some bottled water does come from the natural springs and mountain lakes depicted on the labels, most is just municipal tap water - water that is packaged and sold at enormous cost. Two years ago, the Earth Policy Institute estimated that each gallon of bottled water costs $10 a gallon to go from the groundwater to your lips. Each bottle of water kicks the environment twice, first with unnecessary plastic containers and then with the fuel that is burned to transport this heavy liquid load to your door, supermarket, or vending machine. The cost is currently four times the cost of a gallon of regular gasoline.

This sham is so ridiculous that the Government Accountability Office, which studied the issue for a House committee, reported this summer that the energy costs of delivering bottled water to a consumer in Los Angeles were 1,100 to 2,000 times more than the energy cost of tap water, depending on how far away the filled bottles traveled.

GAO researchers also noted that Americans say they drink filtered or bottled water for health reasons. Nearly half of state officials around the nation report that their consumers believe bottled water is safer than tap water. This obviously cannot be true when the bottled water is tap water.

Yet, annual bottled-water consumption more than doubled between 1997 and 2007, from 13.4 gallons a person to 29.3 gallons. Massachusetts requires the source of bottled water to be put on the label, the GAO noted, but more detailed information is hard to come by anywhere. The GAO found that in a review of 83 bottled-water labels, only one label contained limited water-quality or health information.

Such information was seemingly available on the Web or by telephone for 34 companies, but the GAO found that 13 of these water-quality reports - more than a third - were incomplete or unclear. The GAO concluded that the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules for tap water are generally stronger than the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of bottled water.

So much for the illusion that bottled water is healthier than tap water.

Meanwhile, the bottles themselves remain a symbol of our wasteful times. Three-quarters of water bottles end up in landfills.

In House testimony last month, GAO’s director on natural resources and the environment, John Stephenson, said consumers would likely benefit from more information than they can find on the unhelpful labels on bottled water. Then again, if shoppers knew more about the product, they might not buy bottled water at all.

In one of the more outrageous examples of bottled-water scamming, the Merced (Calif.) Sun-Star reported in June how the Safeway supermarket chain turns Merced city water into an enormous profit. “In Safeway’s case,’’ the newspaper reported, “they pay more than $1,000 a month for more than a million gallons of water. The retail cost for that much-purified bottled water at Safeway is just under $3 million. Safeway would not say how much it costs them to produce their water.’’ Yet Safeway spokeswoman Teena Massingill told the Sun-Star, “We are providing a product that did not exist previously.’’

Last I heard, water existed before bottles, and before Safeway. Thankfully, consumers are beginning to remember that, too.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Bull Shark Jumps in Boat --Terrorizes Passengers for 30 minutes.....


HAULOVER BEACH, Fla. Michael Powers and his friends were on-board a 21 foot boat Saturday, when a shark decided to pay them an unannounced visit. "One minute it was in the air, the next minute it was in the boat just beating everything in God's creation," Micheal recalled. "It hit one of the crew members. It hit Patricia, then it went between Paul's legs and my legs in the back. We're all scattering for cover trying to get up on the deck and out of anywhere we could, just to be safe," Michael said. The 5 1/2 foot bull shark shark injured itself after violently flopping around the boat. "I'm thinking the whole time it was a porpoise and little did I know when I finally got up, and was like, 'I'm OK,' and I looked around, and he's like it's a shark. It all happened so quick," said Patricia Bell. PJ Dunne, 14, was worried about his father. "The most thing I was worried about was my dad. I thought he got bit but thank God he didn't," he said.

Real Life Jaws hunting Mass Waters..................


Two kayakers reported that they saw what they believe was a great white shark attacking a seal off Chatham over the weekend, saying they observed a large black fin slicing through the water near a seal in distress.The men, experienced sea kayakers who have traveled the area many times, said they saw a seal about 20 to 30 feet away jumping out of bloody water and a black fin just 4 feet away from it. The fin extended about a foot above the water.The seal jumped again, then swam toward the men and surfaced just 5 feet from their kayaks with “a big cloud of blood surrounding him,’’ said Bean.“There was so much blood in the water when he surfaced that we couldn’t see past his head and shoulders’’ to determine what his injuries were, Bean said. The seal then headed in the direction of the sandbar.
Greg Skomal, a shark specialist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said the men apparently witnessed a great white shark hunting down its prey, adding that the report came from an area where similar sightings have been made in the past.
“We think it’s a great white shark,’’ Skomal said. “There’s not many species of sharks in New England that would attack a seal. . . . It’s certainly not a new phenomenon. It’s a natural event that’s been going on for a few years.’’
With only thin hulls separating them from the ocean, the men pulled their kayaks together so as to appear bigger to the shark, following advice one of them had once received from a shark expert. Then they continued on their trip, Bean said.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

"EAT MY NEW CEREAL OR I WILL COME GIT Y'ALL"

Obama -"I AM SOOOOO WASTED........."

OBAMA RELAXING IN WHITE HOUSE NEW "AFRICAN ROOM"

NEWS FLASH!!!! OBAMA IS ANTI-CHRIST

Obama healthcare in a nutshell............read to understand


Aug. 18 “UPS and FedEx are doing just fine. It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” -- Barack Obama, Aug. 11, 2009 No institution has been the butt of more government- inefficiency jokes than the U.S. Postal Service. Maybe the Department of Motor Vehicles.The only way the post office can stay in business is its government subsidy. The USPS lost $2.4 billion in the quarter ended in June and projects a net loss of $7 billion in fiscal 2009, outstanding debt of more than $10 billion and a cash shortfall of $1 billion. It was moved to intensive care -- the Government Accountability Office’s list of “high risk” cases - - last month and told to shape up. (It must be the only entity that hasn’t cashed in on TARP!)That didn’t stop President Barack Obama from holding up the post office as an example at a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, last week.When Obama compared the post office to UPS and FedEx, he was clearly hoping to assuage voter concerns about a public health-care option undercutting and eliminating private insurance.What he did instead was conjure up visions of long lines and interminable waits. Why do we need or want a health-care system that works like the post office?What’s more, if the USPS is struggling to compete with private companies, as Obama implied, why introduce a government health-care option that would operate at the same disadvantage?
Obama Unscripted click above to continue..................

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Man guilty of groping Minnie Mouse at Disney


THE OFFICIAL DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

OBAMA THROWS LIKE A GIRL " A BIT DAINTY"

(WATCH WHOLE VIDEO FOR OBAMA BOWLING GUTTER BALL)Yesterday, at the major league all star game President Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Now politically this doesn’t matter much but for a president who has carefully crafted his image, especially as a sports enthusiast, it’s worth noting that President Obama is not much of a baseball player. He pushed the ball rather than throwing it like a pitcher. It was a softball style throw except that it was overhand. All of the news media pointed out that Obama made it over the plate. But if you watch this video from MLB.com you will see that the first baseman Albert Pujols caught the ball in front of home plate and that it almost didn’t make it to his glove.
George Bush when he threw out the first pitch in a World Series game after 9/11 threw a perfect strike. I did hear on the radio this morning that Obama was at a disadvantage because baseball is a sport mostly played by American youth.


NO KIDDING..............................

Soon Large Obama Posters will look down upon us from everywhere (BELOVED LEADER)

JUST LIKE LIL KIM IN NORTH KOREA

Death Dogs to be destroyed after ripping apary jogger

(THIS IS NOT A CLOSEUP OF NANCY PELOSI)
Margit Christensen, 36, was jogging on a rural road in Puketurua, west of Putaruru in the Waikato, when the pig dogs went for her yesterday afternoon.She suffered serious wounds to her head, arms and legs and was flown to Waikato Hospital where she underwent surgery. "I can't describe to you what she looked like. She talked to me - she responded to my questions - but she needed help," said the man, who declined to be named.

Pneumonic Plague Rages in China............

Plague cases have been increasing in 19 provinces of China since the 1990s, Xinhua reported yesterday. The country had 206 cases between 2001 and 2005, with 24 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. Two cases were reported last year, both of them fatal. There were two cases in 2007, of which one was fatal, and one non-fatal case in 2006, according to ministry statistics.“This is the first time in recent years that they have made an official report to us, so there’s nothing to compare it to,” the WHO’s Tan said today.The plague-affected area, situated northeast of Tibet, is adequately supplied with necessities and people’s lives are “normal,” the local health authority said in a statement three days ago. (AND WE KNOW HOW TRUTHFULL AND FORTHCOMING THE CHINESE ARE )Ziketan, in the eastern part of Qinghai, has a population of about 10,000 people. The local health department said anyone who has visited Ziketan and the surrounding areas since July 16 and has developed a fever or a cough should seek treatment at a hospital. Ziketan is 144 kilometers (89 miles) southwest of the Qinghai provincial capital of Xining, which in turn is almost a 3-hour flight west of Beijing.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Disclaimer: The following photos are intended only to emphasize the ears of the subjects and in no way connects black americans with apes


PS: I WILL NOT USE THE TERM
AFRIC__N AMERICANS

Sunbeds elevated to top cancer risk level


"The use of sunbeds is carcinogenic to humans. It causes melanoma of the skin, and melanoma of the eye," said Vincent Cogliano, an IARC researcher who led the new assessment. Classified in 1992 and a "probable" cancer agent, research since then has left no doubt that soaking up UV rays at tanning salons significantly enhances the chances of developing the disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) agency found."I cannot see any reason why a healthy person should use them," he told AFP by phone. The risk of melanoma -- the most lethal form of skin cancer -- increases by 75 percent when use of tanning devices starts before the age of 30, according to the findings, published in the British medical journal The Lancet Oncology. The link between artificial tanning devices and cancer is not new. The WHO and national health agencies have long cautioned against using sunbeds, much as they have warned about the ill effects of overexposure to the sun. The International Agency for Research on Cancer announced Wednesday that it had elevated sunbeds, used by tens of millions of people for tanning, to its highest cancer risk category.

OLYMPIAN ( FROSTED FLAKES BONG BOY) PHELPS LOSES FIRST RACE




SAYS BONGING HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH LOSS. HE ADDED, THAT AFTER A GOOD SMOKE HE IS ACTUALLY FASTER AND CAN SOMETIMES FLY OVER THE WATER.

Another bear crossing I-4 hit, killed by several vehicles

Portions of Interstate 4 were shut down Tuesday evening after a half-dozen cars hit a bear in Seminole County, Florida Highway Patrol trooper Sgt. Kim Montes said. Troopers were called to the scene at about 9:20 p.m. The bear, which was crossing the road, did not survive. One person was transported from the scene with minor injuries, Montes said.Two of the cars were so severely damaged they had to be towed away. The bear was estimated to be 300 lbs.
This is the second time in a week that a bear has been hit by a car on Interstate 4. On Thursday at about 9:30 p.m. three vehicles hit a black bear near that had wandered onto the highway near Sanford. ( THAT'S A PICTURE OF A GRIZZLY, NOT THE CUTE FUZZY LITTLE BEARS WE HAVE IN FLORIDA )