Late update - This story moved me to tears. Champ, a four-year-old German Sheppard mix, was shot 5 times while protecting his home from an intruder. Champ has several bullets lodged in his body and needs medical care. His owners refused to get it.
But then the Coastal German Shepherd Rescue stepped in. The charity group took Champ to their veterinarian team at Alicia Pet Care Center. Champ will survive, but he needs help and someone to adopt him. For more information go here.
Monday, March 15, 2010 -- As someone who knows that there are a few sickos out there who like to prey on the grief stricken and as recent as a few days ago sent email telling me that Gail was a "cunt" for having married me and should be "rotting in Hell" for her bad decision, I can relate to this story out of Washington State.
A couple is outraged after finding out their dead daughter is being claimed as a tax write-off by a total stranger. They found out when the IRS rejected their electronic tax return because the daughter had already been claimed as a write-off.
Because of privacy laws, the couple can't get any information about the person who used their daughter's private information.
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The court protects Big Pharma.
Vaccines that contain a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal cannot cause autism on their own, a special U.S. court ruled on Friday, dealing one more blow to parents seeking to blame vaccines for their children's illness.
Yeah, a "special" court ruled it so.
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Sponsors have refused to allow American figure skater Johnny Weir to join the Stars on Ice Tour because they deemed him "not family friendly." The problem is that Weir has never "officially" announced his sexual orientation and does wear flashy costumes so he must be queer.
Weir is putting his younger brother through college. He supports his family financially because his father has a disability prohibiting him from working. Not family enough apparently for the homophobes.
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The average 18-year-old today is 15 pounds heavier than the average 18 year-old in the late 1970s. Adults have put on even more weight during that period. The average woman in her 60's is 20 pounds heavier than the average 60-something woman in the late 1970s. The average man in his 60's is 25 pounds heavier.
The USDA's food pyramid recommends a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, so why does the USDA give schools meat and dairy products high in saturated fat? Only 13% of commodities provided are fruits and vegetables and about half of the vegetables provided are potatoes.
Why does the government support the production of meat and dairy products that contribute to the growing rates of obesity and chronic disease while fruit and vegetable farmers get less than 1% of government subsidies? Why is Mrs. Obama out bitching about so many people overweight when she should be bitching at the old man about what his policies are?
Why is it that most unhealthy foods have gotten cheaper? Since 1978, soda has dropped 33% but fruits and veggies are over 40% more expensive.
It wouldn't be that the government wants us fat and unhealthy would it? The fatter we get, the more government's best friend, Big Pharma and the cancer industry stands to profit.
Did you know that when you eat a McDonald's burger, and let's hope you know better, or buy conventional ground meat at your supermarket which you shouldn't be, there is fatty slaughterhouse trimmings in the meat?
This "nasty pink slime," as one FDA microbiologist called it, is treated with ammonia to "retard spoilage". The three-cent per pound savings off production costs is making, Beef Products Inc., a fortune. $440 million last year to be exact. With the USDA's approval, the company's processed beef has become a mainstay in hamburgers. McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food giants use it as a component in ground beef, as do grocery chains. The federal school lunch program used an estimated 5.5 million pounds of the
processed beef last year alone.
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A livestock drug banned in 160 nations and responsible for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10% mortality in pigs has been approved by the FDA.
Ractopamine is marked, "Not for use in humans. Individuals with cardiovascular disease should exercise special caution to avoid exposure. Use protective clothing, impervious gloves, protective eye wear, and a NIOSH-approved dust mask".
The drug is used in U.S. pigs and ration-fed cattle. The drug transfers to humans who eat the meat of these animals and although "not for human use" the government allows it anyway because, class? That's right, they want you to get sick so that you'll spend money on medical care.
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Creepy ads
Zicam - take it to make your cold "crash" so that you can "reboot faster".
Forget taking care of yourself so you don't catch cold in the first place, take another of Big Pharma's chemicals. You know, like the supplement Zinc which is mostly what Zicam is except that you'll pay twice the price for Zicam.
Never mind either that less than a year ago Zicam was recalled after complaints of anosmia, the loss of sense of smell. Ads for this shit are back.
Matrixx Initiatives, the manufacturer of Zicam, was aware of the reported problems were users suffered loss of smell or taste after using their product, but they failed to take steps to protect consumers.
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Ever heard of the Business Roundtable? It is the driving force behind the concentration of wealth among the elite whose dominance over the US economy and government is frightening. Its members are a Who's Who of everything that is wrong with the economy. Have a gander at some of the leaders of the roundtable:
Goldman Sachs
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Morgan Stanley
Citigroup, Inc.
Bank of America
MasterCard Incorporated
American Express Company
News Corporation (FAUX SNOOZE)
Time Warner Cable Inc.
Viacom, Inc.
General Electric Company
Comcast Corporation
Microsoft Corporation
Cisco Systems, Inc.
AT&T Inc.
Verizon Communications
McAfee, Inc.
ITT Corporation
Boeing Company, The
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Shell Oil Company
Chevron Corporation
ConocoPhillips
Aetna Inc.
CIGNA
Pfizer Inc.
WellPoint, Inc.
Eli Lilly and Company
State Farm
Dow Chemical
Caterpillar Inc.
DuPont
General Motors Company
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
The roundtable is the most powerful activist organization in the USA. Its leaders routinely lobby members of Congress behind closed doors and often meet privately with the President and his administration. Any legislation that affects roundtable members has almost zero possibility of passing without their support.
The healthcare reform bill became an insurance industry bailout and was drastically altered by Roundtable lobbyists. Obama met with the roundtable on February 24th, in hopes of getting healthcare reform back on track.
Almost every aspect of financial reform has been DOA thanks to roundtable lobbyists who pushed to make sure Ben Bernanke was reconfirmed as the head of the Federal Reserve.
The increase in military spending is also a result of roundtable lobbyists. Military companies like Boeing and Bechtel, (also roundtable members) and ExxonMobil, Shell, and Chevron profit from war.
The roundtable tells politicians what they want done, and the politicians do it. Roundtable members even write the laws themselves when necessary.
Please visit this merchant
Brent's morning coffee courtesy of
Speeder & Earl's,
Burlington, VT.
