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Sam Garchik - Mon 02 Jun 2008 10:10 AM CDT
atomburke - Fri 23 May 2008 03:49 PM CDT
salman - Fri 23 May 2008 06:28 AM CDT
megelso - Sun 11 May 2008 09:10 AM CDT
no4gman - Tue 29 Apr 2008 01:07 AM CDT
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Friday, October 28
COOL has been Killed
by
Caroline Vernon
on Fri 28 Oct 2005 04:00 PM CDT
 Politics and Money to Blame for Killing Consumer-Friendly Food Labeling Program.
This is completely unacceptable!
Note:
The only silver lining is that the Larry Craig provision to exempt
factory farms from Superfund and Emergency Planning and Community Right
to Know Act (EPCRA) failed once again.
Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Director of Public Citizen’s Food Program.
The long
battle over country-of-origin labeling (COOL) has reached a
disappointing finish, with a decision last night by the House-Senate
Conference Committee on the agriculture appropriations bill (H.R. 2744)
to wave a white flag of surrender to the food and grocery industries.
The committee effectively killed a mandatory program that would require
labels on foods sold in grocery stores to state where and how the food
was raised or produced.
As is
typical of this Congress, this final move was made behind closed doors.
Even though Public Citizen tried to attend this so-called public
meeting, no one who was standing in line to attend the meeting was
allowed to enter the room. Despite polls showing that consumers
overwhelmingly support mandatory labeling, lawmakers have killed the
idea through budgetary gimmicks because they favor a weaker, voluntary
labeling program. A mandatory program would not have cost the
government any money; that cost would have been borne by the food
industry.
As outlined in the recent Public Citizen report Tabled Labels, available at http://www.citizen.org/documents/COOL.pdf,
big agribusiness used millions of dollars in lobbying expenditures and
campaign contributions, and a network of Washington insiders with close
connections to the Bush administration and Congress, to thwart COOL.
This latest effort to kill COOL was led by U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla
(R-Texas), who has received more than $167,000 from COOL opponents in
the past three election cycles, making him their top beneficiary. The
Food Marketing Institute, which represents the grocery industry, and
the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which represents the meat
industry, have been the biggest opponents of mandatory COOL. It is
apparent that our elected lawmakers’ main concern is to protect
industry, not consumers.
While
the appropriations bill delays mandatory COOL for meat to September
2008, this move effectively kills the program because this new
implementation date is beyond the expiration date - 2007 - of the 2002
Farm Bill that originally mandated it.
Rules
for voluntary COOL are already in effect, yet most consumers are not
getting information about where their food was produced. For nearly
four years, Congress has stalled on this issue. Most people can earn a
college degree in four years, but apparently it’s not enough time for
Congress to institute a simple program that would have been useful to
every consumer in the United States. Congress has failed us again.
Public
Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based
in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.
Sunday, October 23
HOGS, HOGS, HOGS AGAIN
by
Molly Regan
on Sun 23 Oct 2005 11:00 AM CDT
 Hogs, Hogs, Hogs Again
A
public health emergency needs to be issued for the state of Iowa.
Industrial-strength hog lot confinements are getting a strangle hold on
our air.
If you live in one of the medium to large cities in IOWA and step
outside one snowy morning and are slapped in the face with the stench
of HYDROGEN SULFIDE or AMMONIA, it's too late for you. The time
will have passed for you to do anything. So get educated now
because the request for new and expanding hog confinements is exploding.
According to a September 19th article by Perry Beeman of the Des Moines
Register, "Construction permits for new livestock operations through
August - 137 - already were up 59 percent over last year's
record. For the third straight year, IOWA - the nation's top hog
producer - has issued a record number of permits for new livestock
operations, MOST OF THEM CONFINEMENTS FOR MORE THAN 2,500 HOGS."….
"…'People need to be greatly vigilant about what is going on in their
neighborhoods,' said Hugh Espey of IOWA Citizens for Community
Improvement, which opposes large-scale hog confinements. 'We
think IOWA has too many factory farms as it is. There are bound
to be problems.'"
"The risks are documented. Studies by the University of IOWA, the
University of North Carolina, Duke University, the state of Utah and
others have associated hog confinements with neighbors' complaints of
nausea, respiratory problems, headaches, depression and diarrhea.
The University of IOWA estimated HOG CONFINEMENTS EMIT MORE THAN 100
CHEMICALS AND COMPOUNDS, INCLUDING HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA.
"Manure applied as fertilizer to crop fields sometimes runs into
streams, killing fish, and into lakes, which is one reason state park
swimming areas are unsafe at times.
"Espey's group successfully pushed for tighter controls on hog
operations, but IT STILL IS PUSHING FOR A MORATORIUM ON CONSTRUCTION.
The group also wants the state to give local authorities control over
the construction. As it is, county boards of supervisors can only
ask for a state hearing and rate confinement proposals on a state
checklist intended to promote operations that pollute less and cause
fewer area disruptions…."
For the entire article go to www.desmoinesregister.com
We must all honestly take a look at what we do to contribute to the big
demand for pork. Have you asked at a restaurant if the meat they
serve is free range or confined? Do you think the average server
knows or cares? So, ask next time and ask at the grocery
store. Find restaurants that use local growers. Then also
watch the IOWA Department of Natural Resources website www.iowadnr.com
or call their office to see whether anyone has requested an animal
confinement construction permit recently in your area.
Just a reminder: CRP - CONSERVE/RECYCLE/PARTICIPATE
Join the Fight Against Fake News
by
Trish Nelson
on Sun 23 Oct 2005 04:00 AM CDT
 Join the Fight Against Fake News
Center for Media and Democracy: PR Watch
Monday on Blog for Iowa, Arron reported that the Senate
Commerce Committee was considering a bill, the Truth in Broadcasting Act (S
967) addressing the issue of disclosure on VNR’s (government-produced,
prepackaged video news releases). Here
is the watered down version of the original bill passed this week, but the
fight is not over….
The Truth in Broadcasting Act (S 967) was considered [this week] by the Senate
Commerce Committee. The original bill would have required a
"conspicuous" disclosure to accompany any government-produced or
-funded prepackaged VNR or the radio equivalent, an audio news release (ANR).
What the committee passed, however, was significantly
different. Even the name had changed, to the "Prepackaged News Story
Announcement Act."
First, the revised Act drops the continuous on-screen
notification requirement for VNRs. Second, it calls for "clear
notification within the text or audio of the prepackaged news story,"
without specifying the minimum requirements for audience disclosure. Most
troubling, it allows that disclosure to be removed altogether, following rules
that the Act requires the Federal Communications Commission to develop.
According to to TV Week… "The bill clears the way for
TV news operations to continue using snippets of government-produced VNRs for
[video footage] in their own stories, as they do currently, leaving the issue
of how to identify the material up to station news personnel." The problem
is that nondisclosure - that's covert propaganda - is currently the norm.
But the fact that the revised
Act did make it out of the Senate Commerce Committee is a step, however small,
in the right direction. The legislative process is far from over, and the Act's
language can be strengthened as easily as it was weakened - if concerned
citizens get involved.
The Act's
main sponsors, Senators Lautenberg and Kerry, "tried to make it much
stronger," but did not have the support of their colleagues. That can change
if enough U.S residents call or write their two Senators and Representative, to demand clear,
conspicuous disclosure accompanying all video or audio footage coming from the
government. In the case of VNRs, that must be a continuous, on-screen notification.
For ANRs, that must be an announcement, prior to and/or following the provided
audio.
The Center for Media and Democracy has been exposing
"fake news," such as the ready-to-air faux TV reports known as video
news releases (VNRs), since 1993. Now, we have joined forces with the media
reform group Free Press, in an ongoing investigative and activist campaign to
say "No Fake News!"
The fight is far from over - in fact, it just got more
important. Get active and stay tuned.
(source)
Click here to
join
Tuesday, October 18
Progressive Action for the Common Good Summit II, October 30, in Rock Island, IL
by
Arron Wings
on Tue 18 Oct 2005 04:00 PM CDT
 Progressive Action for the Common Good Summit II, October 30, in Rock Island, IL
PROGRESSIVE ACTION FOR THE COMMON GOOD (PACG)
COMMUNITY FORUM & SUMMIT II
"ECONOMIC JUSTICE: PROMOTING PROGRESSIVE VALUES"
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2005
NOON – 4 PM
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE
WALLENBERG AUDITORIUM (DENKMANN HALL)
7TH AVENUE & 35TH STREET
ROCK ISLAND, IL
12 – 1 PM SIGN-IN & REFRESHMENTS
PROGRAM STARTS 1 PM
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
David Osterberg, Director, Iowa Policy Project, a
non-profit/non-partisan research organization promoting public
policy that fosters economic opportunity.
David
was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from ‘83-’94. Besides
being director of IPP, he also teaches at the University of Iowa
WORKSHOPS TO FOLLOW INCLUDE:
1. Environment: energy
2. Environment: hog confinements
3. Education reform
4. Combating hunger
5. Making work pay
6. The language of reconciliation
7. Effective lobbying
8. Predatory lending
9. Ensuring fair elections
10. Discussing Jim Wallis’ book “God’s Politics”
11. Reclaiming the language of progressivism
12. Rapid response to media coverage
13. Wake up Wal-mart campaign
PACG Service Project
We are
collecting phone cards for injured vets returning from
combat. Bring a pre-paid card to the summit or mail to:
Cathy Bolkom
26634 – 225th St
Le Clare, Iowa 52753
To
register early or for more information contact Cathy at 563-289-4155 or
CBArts4@aol.com or our site www.qcprogressiveaction.org
Monday, October 17
Last Week in Media by Iowa's Arron Wings
by
Trish Nelson
on Mon 17 Oct 2005 11:00 AM CDT
 Last Week in Media
by Arron Wings
There are major issues surfacing in the regulation and future of media this fall.
The FCC is reviewing and rewriting the “ownership rules” they got wrong in 2003 and are now before them again.
Broadcast licenses for all TV and radio stations in Iowa
are up for renewal this winter. The deadline for stations to
request renewal is October 1, 2005, and the deadline for public comment
and participation is January 1, 2006.
But there are also other issues that will have long-term consequences for us the public.
The
Truth in Broadcasting Act of 2005 (S. 967) currently before the Senate
Commerce Committee
will mandate the identification of all pre-packaged “news releases”
(VNRs) created by the government and broadcast on our airwaves.
The need for this action arose when both the Justice Department and the
FCC failed to protect consumers from products that the Government
Accounting Office has said violate a prohibition on “covert
propaganda.” The Justice Department has said an unattributed VNR
is not covert propaganda as long as it is fact-based, and the FCC does
not require disclosure unless the VNR is on a political or
controversial topic.
The Act
attempts to eliminate the ambiguity created by those two departments
and mandates that all VNRs produced by or for a branch of government is
identified as such. It requires that “Produced by the U.S.
Government” or similar language is displayed on all VNRs regardless of
topic or content.
Click here for more information or to join the fight against government propaganda.
Arron Wings lives in Iowa City and is a member of Iowans for Better Local TV.
Friday, October 14
Nuclear Funding Accountability
by
Caroline Vernon
on Fri 14 Oct 2005 04:00 PM CDT
 Nuclear Funding Accountability
Excerpts from nirs.org
At a time when Congress is threatening to cut off hundreds of thousands
of individuals from their life-lines by making drastic cuts to Medicaid
in order to reduce the deficit, here is an opportunity to eliminate
some of the pork from the DOE’s Fiscal Year 2006 budget.
The Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) has evaluated and
identified seven nuclear weapons and three nuclear energy programs in
next year’s budget that are wasteful and warrant cutbacks or
elimination of the programs entirely. Proposed cuts would result in
immediate savings of over $1.8 billion. Billions more could be cut from
the DOE’s budget over the next five years and much of the savings could
be applied toward addressing the environmental and potential health
effects which result from nuclear weapons production.
It comes as no surprise that I have heard little to nothing about these
proposed nuclear weapons programs within the mainstream media.
Evidently, our fourth estate has decided that this same issue that
permeated our airwaves throughout the 60's and 70's and which
threatened not only our national security but our global security, is
no longer newsworthy enough to share with the American people.
We
still haven’t cleaned up many of the Superfund sites which this
Congress has neglected to fully fund, and yet the DOE wants to pile a
new mess on top of an old one, but this is one mess you can’t continue
to just sweep under the rug.
Congress
could save taxpayers nearly a billion dollars by simply agreeing to
cuts already made in the House and Senate versions of the FY 2006
Energy & Water spending bill (H.R. 2419). The Chairmen of the
Conference Committee have the most power over what cuts or increases
survive in the final bill. Call your legislators and urge them to tell
the Chairmen to accept the House and Senate funding cuts to nuclear
weapons and energy programs while preserving the House increases to
environmental cleanup and nuclear warhead dismantlement.
TIMING: Valid for the month of October, 2005.
Differences between the House and Senate versions of the Energy &
Water spending bill must be worked out by a joint House-Senate
Conference Committee. With the deficit over $330 billion, it is
imperative that Congress approve the $1 billion in cuts to nuclear
weapons and energy programs that were adopted earlier this year.
Budget cuts that we support include:
* $85 million for the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative, a dangerous and expensive return to REPROCESSING nuclear waste.
* $74 million from the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository;
* $303 million for plutonium fuel fabrication (MOX), a commercial reactor fuel;
* $7.6 million for a new plutonium bomb plant to mass-produce nuclear bomb triggers;
* $4 million for research into a nuclear bunker buster that has the
potential of a million casualties but would be unable to penetrate many
of the deepest targets;
* $25 million to increase the readiness to resume underground nuclear testing;
* $146 million for constructing the National Ignition Facility for nuclear weapons research;
Budget increases we support include:
* $115 million to dismantle nuclear warheads as pledged by the President following the Moscow Treaty;
* $190 million to the environmental cleanup budget for sites to adhere
to legal obligations for cleanup of contamination from U.S. nuclear
weapons production.
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability, (202) 544-0217
You can also send a letter to your members of congress by going to the following links:
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has posted the alert on Capwiz (which has already generated over 1,000 messages) at: http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=8067771
Working Assets has posted a similar alert on its Act for Change site (which has already generated over 11,650 messages) at http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=19499
A postcard version of the alert is attached, which can be copied, cut
and distributed at local events. The alert is posted online at http://www.ananuclear.org/action.html
See ANA’s radioactive pork report at http://www.ananuclear.org/topten2005.html
See sign-on letter from 44 national and local groups to Energy & Water Conferees at http://ananuclear.org/E%26Wletteroct305.html
This Alert originated with:
Jim Bridgman, Program Director
Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
322 4th Street, NE, WDC, 20002
202-544-0217 x3
FAX: 202-544-6143
jcbridgman@earthlink.net
www.ananuclear.org
Sunday, October 9
HOGS, HOGS, HOGS ON THE RADIO
by
Molly Regan
on Sun 09 Oct 2005 11:13 AM CDT
 HOGS, HOGS, HOGS ON THE RADIO
Normally an IOWA-based radio program about hogs mentions the words
commodity, pork bellies, or futures at least once. The one this
morning on 1270 AM-WKBF did not. The program "Conversation With Cathy
And Karl" is broadcast on our local Air America affiliate. It was
sent out over the airwaves from 9-9:30 AM this sunny but cool October
morning. Those listening in the Quad-Cities area and for those up
to 70 miles away, this is local, progressive, discussion radio at its
best. We here in eastern IOWA and those in western Illinois can
pickup the signal.
This particular program heard Cathy Bolcom and Karl Rhomberg interview
me about HOG CONFINEMENTS IN IOWA AND THE MASTER MATRIX. I talked
about the problems stemming from too many pigs being raised in too
small an area. HYDROGEN SULFIDE AND AMMONIA as well as
ANTIBIOTICS and ASTHMA IN CHILDREN were all part of the program.
NERVOUS SYSTEM AND/OR BRAIN DAMAGE OR DEATH can result with even short
exposure to strong doses of hydrogen sulfide or ammonia. Many of
you who visit this web site have read the articles I've previously
written about this issue so are already aware of these things. By
hopefully stressing the HEALTH perspective as well as the SOCIAL,
CULTURAL, and ECONOMIC aspects of what hog confinements represent we'll
bring this topic back to continued public discussion.
Before the IOWA and Illinois legislatures convene again, I hope to have an open forum on this matter.
To see what has happened in counties west of Eastern IOWA is crucial in
understanding the life of a confined hog. No longer is this just
about a person trying to make a living at what they love to do; this
first and foremost must be considered a HEALTH ISSUE. THE DAMAGE
TO OUR HEALTH, ESPECIALLY TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH, CAN BE AVOIDED if
confinements do not increase.
It is also about the AGRICULTURE /INDUSTRIAL /CORPORATE
COMPLEX. Do we want our state to become a place where our health,
air, and water are decimated to feed those in other states and around
the world? This is my main question. After hearing Scott
County Board of Supervisor Chairman Larry Minard's final remarks on
July 28th, it appears there is lack of concern for the majority of
those living in our county. He said we live in a global economy
and for economic reasons the Thomas Dittmer hog lot expansion was
approved. All 5 supervisors voted in favor: 2 Democrats, 3
Republicans.
On the radio program today, Karl called this a "sham" referring to the
fact that no matter how the local board of supervisors votes, the final
say for permit approval or denial rests with the IDNR (IOWA Department
of Natural Resources). But at least since the board has opted the
past 3 years to be part of the permit process, public input is received
for 30 days after the construction permit request is received by the
IDNR.
Those near Reynolds, Illinois, who I mentioned last week, are
apprehensive about their chances to stop the confinement near their
town of 550 (I had too many people listed previously, sorry). On
Thursday, September 29th, many of the 12 who are suing the farmer Jim
O'Leary appeared in the Rock Island County courthouse. It was the
first hearing regarding a request for a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER
that would put a halt to the construction of the confinement
buildings. But since there are no pigs on the site yet, the judge
deemed there was no emergency situation.
On Monday, November 7th, the group and their lawyer will be back in
court this time asking for a temporary INJUNCTION. More to come
later.
BLACK ELK, GREAT OGLALA SIOUX LEADER WOULD SAY WE DISHONOR THE EARTH.
SAINT FRANCIS WOULD TELL US WE NEED TO BE MORE KIND TO ANIMALS.
JOHN DENVER WOULD BE APPALLED.
GEORGE HARRISON WOULD SEE THE INJUSTICE.
BELLA ABZUG WOULD TAKE THEM TO COURT.
In your busy week, don't forget to CPR...CONSERVE/PARTICIPATE/RECYCLE
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