PHARMACEUTICALS FOUND IN DRINKING WATER

A year or so ago I saw a news story about drugs like birth control, anti-depressants and viagra showing up in the drinking water in Los Angeles. The newscaster said that people must be flushing their drugs down the toilet in order for them to end up in our drinking water.

It is difficult for me to imagine large numbers of women flushing birth control pills. Or middle aged men flushing their beloved viagra.

This was all shocking enough. But the news story ended with a matter-of-fact blurb that, by the way, Los Angeles had started cycling treated waste water into the reservoirs used for drinking water. I almost fell out of my seat at how flippant this last comment was thrown into the report.

This news story (linked to below) shows that this is happening nationwide and admits that these drugs show up in the reservoirs because we secrete the excess from our bodies through our urine. The story kind of dances around the inference that we are drinking treated waste water but gets to it eventually.

And fish are being "altered" by these drugs. We are being told that the trace amounts of these pharmaceuticals are too small to affect us. Oh, really? Researchers are finding male fish who are turning into female fish. Some even grow eggs. And we are to believe that continued exposure to this is not going to affect our children? Or ourselves?

Sometimes I feel that we are a generation being used as guinea pigs. With all the genetically modified crops, cows pumped full of growth hormones... all this technology has not had their long term effects tested. One day, years from now, our government will tell us, "Whoops! Sorry about that!"

IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR

As more and more soldiers and veterans who have fought in Iraq speak out against the war more and more Americans realize that it is possible to support the troops and still oppose the decisions made by our government. If you are reading this post you probably believe as I do that the best way to support and honor the brave men and women serving in that country is to bring that back as safely and quickly as possible.

I have had a step-brother and nephew serve two tours in Iraq. Luckily the both returned home alive and unharmed. And I've seen the pain and worry in the face of my step-brother's mother.

The organization Irag Veterans Against the War will be hosting events and fundraisers all across the country from March 13th through the 16th. There is a link to a map showing events in an area near you.

IVATW - Winter Soldier

SOURCE OF IRAN NUKE EVIDENCE IN QUESTION

Despite the Bush administration pointing to a laptop with over 1,000 pages of documents as primary evidence for the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. Like the now infamous "yellow cake" evidence, other countries have expressed serious doubts about the authenticity of this information.

This news article reports that there is now evidence that the source of these documents was in fact the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency.

Fortunately, recent National Security Estimates (NIS) have minimized the immediacy of the Iranian nuclear weapons development. A mistake which added to the drumbeat leading us into the march to war in Iraq.

Iran Nuke Program Info

SOLDIERS SPEAK OUT

I just stumbled onto an article about soldiers are Fort hood who have begun speaking out critically about the ongoing war in Iraq.

I've personally not served. I have had family members do multiple tours of duty on the ground in Iraq. And while I admire their commitment and courage I do not now nor ever have supported the war. When I hear Senator Clinton evading her affirmative vote to authorize engagement in that country with the excuse of "if only I knew better" it infuriates me!

There were MILLIONS of people worldwide who opposed this war. It comes down to judgement and she failed miserably to adequately use her to avoid a catastrophic and costly error in her own judgement.

Yes. It is possible to support the troops while not supporting the war the have been asked to fight in.

This quote from the article sums up the critical feelings of some of these troops:

"The honest truth is that if the American people knew what was going on over there everyday, they would be raising their voices too. They would be saying, 'Hey, bring those guys home."

Fort Hood Soldiers Breaking The Silence In Iraq War

Worldwide Marches Against the Iraq War

143 MILLION POUNDS OF BEEF RECALLED

Today the U.S. Department of Agriculture recalled 143 million... yes, million, pounds of beef from a southern California slaughterhouse.

The Chino-based facility is at the center of a case involving abusive behavior against livestock. It is against the law to slaughter sick livestock for consumption. So the workers of this plant were caught on tape doing all sorts of foul things to cattle so sick that they. The goal was to get them to stand up... then the could be slaughtered and be in your local grocery store before you could say "BSE."

Because this beef was not adequately tested it was all designated unfit for human consumption. This is the largest recall of beef in U.S. history. And while I am glad that this case was brought to light due to some good and fortunate investigative reporting, the fact that this country tests less than 5% of the beef introduced into the food system leaves me less than confident that we are not just scratching the surface here.

Then again, I stopped eating beef just over seven years ago.

USDA Recalls Beef

IN GOOD HANDS

The future looks bright, knowing that these brave and articulate young men and women represent some of the best this country has to offer in the near future. I found this video several months back after having a similar discussion with a couple of my gung ho coworkers, both of whom nearly choked on their lunch when I suggested that there was no more true a measure of the support for the war than for them to enlist.

Needless to say, they are both still working at the studio with no immediate plans to enlist in the armed services.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION SHUTS DOWN SITE TRACKING ECONOMIC DATA

The administration has decided to shut down a web site which tracks economic data in the U.S.

Forbes has awarded this site an award for excellence. Nevertheless, this site will be shut down on March 1st. The reason given: "budgetary constraints." Which is rather ironic. If not entirely unbelievable.

This administration has argued that it is the "liberal media" constantly feeding a negative viewpoint of the economy into our empty little heads. Same for Iraq... things have been going well over there all along. We've just had the wool pulled over our eyes the entire time. If only we could really see how great the administration has been running things over there.

ECOMONIC SITE SHUT DOWN

THE STRIKE HAS ENDED

You might be asking yourself, "what strike? Have I been missing something?"

Chances are that unless you work in "the Industry" (don't you just love the pretension?!) or have grown so tired of reality television that you are ready to throw your tv in front of the next large truck plowing past your house... you don't really care that much that the Writer's Guild of America has voted to end their walkout.

The strike, which has lasted close to three months, has had a widespread effect in Los Angeles. For example, I know a couple who are in dire financial straights due to the strike. The husband is an assistant cameraman and the wife is a hair & makeup artist servicing the entertainment industry. And there has not been any work for them for three months. Imagine that! Caterers. Film processing labs. Local restaurants. The impact has been substantial.

Why did the writers walk off their jobs? Money, of course? And not that that is a bad thing; there was a lot at stake and a lot worth fighting for. Particularly when this is your livelihood and how you feed your family and pay your mortgage.

In the end that strong solidarity amongst writers won out...

... well, unless you are a writer for animation. The WGA dropped those hard working folks like a bad habit! What's a writer to do?

PROJECT CENSORED 2008

This is slightly old news for those who know about this book, but great information for those who have never heard of or read the yearly Project Censored books. Each year this organization publishes a book reporting what they deem to be the top 25 news stories which were underreported by the media.

These stories tend to be highly social and political in nature with potential wide ranging impacts, domestically and globally. No Britney Spears stories in this book!

Please check out the link below and, if the stories catch your interest, consider purchasing the book and supporting this great project.

Project Censored 2008