All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Amazon CARES: Dogs In Amazon’s Only No-Kill Shelter Need Your Help Now!

Although the concept is very foreign in Peru, our Peruvian office is considering running a food drive in order to provide the dogs we shelter with better quality food at a more reasonable price. We’re unsure how successful a food drive will be, but we are willing to do whatever we can to help these dogs in need!

 

You can help too! You can help us with the extra expense of food by making a small contribution to our cause by following this link: http://www.crowdrise.com/dogfood Please consider sharing our cause with your friends!

Any contribution you make will go a long way in helping us to provide great nutrition and care for these wonderful dogs!

via Amazon CARES: Dogs In Amazon’s Only No-Kill Shelter Need Your Help Now!.

Welcome to California Cantaloupes | California Cantaloupes – safe to eat again?

The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board represents a commitment to the highest level of safety and quality for all cantaloupe consumers. California cantaloupes are produced under a mandatory food safety program that invites government auditors to inspect all aspects of farming, packing and cooling operations.

via Welcome to California Cantaloupes | California Cantaloupes.

If inspectors are not funded – then the invitations will mean nothing and listeria will be found making people ill again. They either pay for inspection themselves to the USDA, there is no assurance of safety!

Supreme Court says human genes cannot be patented – The Washington Post

The Supreme Court says companies cannot patent human genes, a decision that could profoundly affect the medical and biotechnology industries.

In a unanimous decision, the court struck down patents held by Myriad Genetics Inc. on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

Opponents say patent protection shouldn’t be given to something that can be found inside the human body.

via Supreme Court says human genes cannot be patented – The Washington Post.

Dutch Futurist: Scenarios for the future of urban farming — City Farmer News

The Citizen grower

Lots of people who live in cities share the wish to be active in food production. Kitchen gardens are popular among young and old. The barren grounds and rooftops look tempting to these gardeners. People start to ask the city government if they could use these parcels for growing food. Some cities have pro-actively responded to this demand and made maps of available parcels and rooftops.

People use the food that they grow to sell on neighbourhood markets. Near a garden complex there is often a restaurant, where meals are served made from fresh neighbourhood produce. The unemployed start off as waiters and other personnel in the restaurant, making it easier for them to find a paid job later on. Schools and children are involved. They are physically active and learn about healthy food.

City councils are happy with this movement and develop additional education programs to help people learn about the nature of food. They also facilitate the growers’ movement in all sorts of ways, for instance by making it easier for businesses to donate or act as barter in a project. In this way the city, businesses and citizens connect through the growing of food.

via Dutch Futurist: Scenarios for the future of urban farming — City Farmer News.

Food Politics » The endless debates about salt: Don’t worry. Eat (real) food

Food Politics » The endless debates about salt: Don’t worry. Eat (real) food.

The bottom line, Bittman says (and I enthusiastically agree), is that

Salt intake — like weight, and body mass index — is a convenient baseline for public policy people to talk about. If you focus on eating less salt — and, indeed, less sugar — you will inevitably eat less processed food, fast food, junk food (it’s all the same thing.) If you eat less processed food (etc.) you eat more real food. If you eat more real food, not only are you healthier, but you probably don’t have to pay attention to how much salt you’re eating. Wowie zowie.

Census: Rural US loses population for first time – KansasCity.com Spin – not news

Truth – accuracy – who cares? Eyes on page and profits from advertising – that’s what counts! Rural America is losing population for the first time ever, largely because of waning interest among baby boomers in moving to far-flung locations for retirement and recreation, according to new census estimates.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/12/4289881/census-rural-us-loses-population.html#storylink=cpy

via Census: Rural US loses population for first time – KansasCity.com.

People left rural America in droves from 1914 to 1940 – duh? Someone forget industrialization and the growth of American cities in their rush to appear to be bringing you new dramatic news!

How Did a Hepatitis A Virus Get Into Organic Berries? | Food Safety News

Longish but a must read – “Oregon” berries were not really from Oregon farm. – The latest count from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is 99 people infected in eight states: Arizona, California Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Washington. Of these, 38 have been hospitalized.

According to the CDC, Hepatitis A “usually occurs when an infected food handler prepares food without appropriate hand hygiene.” However, the source of this particular strain is still unclear, except that it probably did not originate in the United States.

via How Did a Hepatitis A Virus Get Into Organic Berries? | Food Safety News.

DREF reports Ebola outbreak in Uganda | Vaccine News Daily

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund reported on Monday that an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever has been confirmed in Luwero district in Uganda.

The Ebola virus is one of the deadliest infections in the world and is known to kill more than 90 percent of those who are infected. The virus starts with sudden influenza-like symptoms, which eventually escalates and begins affecting more parts of the body. These symptoms keep escalating until multiple organs shut down.

via DREF reports Ebola outbreak in Uganda | Vaccine News Daily.

Rape and Abortion, Again – NYTimes.com

the number of rapes resulting in pregnancy is not negligible.

Here’s Mr. Chait again: “there are about 30,000 pregnancies from rape a year.” And here’s Sarah Kliff, citing a 2003 study: “a single act of rape” is “more than twice as likely to result in pregnancy than an act of consensual sex.”

via Rape and Abortion, Again – NYTimes.com.

GOP representatives – especially the men are both dumb and dogmatic about their belief that they know what is best for women

Would-be White House Crasher Wanted to Paint ‘Patriot’ Snake Symbol | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center

An unoccupied black Jeep Patriot rolls down the street and crashes into a light pole and steel bollard of a guard booth near the White House shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday.

A block of wood had been affixed to the accelerator with Velcro. Inside the vehicle – its motor still running, its airbag deployed – are 200 rounds of ammunition, eight knives of various sizes and two machetes.

Heavily armed Secret Service agents, including an emergency response team and a counter sniper team, immediately scramble into action.

The special teams are ordered to take up defensive positions.

Minutes after the crash, agents spot a 5-foot-11 white man jumping a fence of the White House complex. He ignores agents’ orders to halt and runs deeper into the complex, towards the White House.

There’s been a breach.

This is not the beginning of a Hollywood movie, but the real-life drama that unfolded early Sunday morning when, according to federal authorities and a criminal complaint, 32-year-old Joseph Clifford Reel of Kettering, Ohio, crashed his Jeep and jumped the fence because, as he told officers, he wanted to paint the “don’t tread on me snake” somewhere in the White House complex as a symbolic gesture.

via Would-be White House Crasher Wanted to Paint ‘Patriot’ Snake Symbol | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center.