All posts by nedhamson

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

West Point Sergeant Accused Of Filming Female Cadets In Shower: Gothamist

Someone else had to know too and did nothing – the whole dumb culture has to change – NOW!

Sgt. First Class Michael McClendon is described as a “tactical noncommissioned officer” who worked as a staff adviser to 125 cadets at West Point. The Military Times reports that he faces 35 specifications “four articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice for indecent acts, dereliction in the performance of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, and actions prejudicial to good order and discipline.”

McClendon is alleged to have been in possession of computer files for images of nude cadets, according to a charge sheet obtained by Army Times. The names of the alleged victims were redacted.

Between July 2009 and May 2012, McClendon allegedly made images and videos of a number of women’s exposed bodies, though it is unclear where and how each of the images were created. McClendon in at least some cases is alleged to have entered into a women’s bathroom without announcing himself to film women as they were coming and going from the shower.

via West Point Sergeant Accused Of Filming Female Cadets In Shower: Gothamist.

Meaness before Mercy and Community – Food Politics » Civics lesson: SNAP amendments to the farm bill

Civics lesson: SNAP amendments to the farm bill

I know the mere words “farm bill” are enough to put any sane person into a coma, but what’s happening in Congress can be quite entertaining if you don’t care what happens.

For example, the bill is so big and covers so much territory that just about every legislator introduces amendments (these are tracked by FarmBillPrimer.org).

Because SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) takes up 80% of farm bill funding to the tune of about $80 billion a year, lots of amendments deal with further decreasing the budget allocation or restoring amounts that have been cut.  So far, none of these has passed.

But legislators have other things they want SNAP to do.  For example, Senator Tom Coburn MD (Rep-Oklahoma) has introduced several amendments pertaining to SNAP, among them:

Amendment 1000 – Junk Food Purchases with SNAP: Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to approve state demonstration projects that limit the purchase of junk food under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Additional information here.

 

Energy drinks, candy bars, sodas, ice cream, potato chips, fancy bakery cakes and cookies are all eligible foods under the program, as defined by statute…Few people would qualify these goods as “nutritional assistance.”

Amendment 1001 – Food Stamps: Returns the title of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to its original name, the Food Stamp program. Additional information here.

Congress renamed the Food Stamp Program to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and made a name change to the underlying legislative bill governing food stamps. Given spending patterns and eligible purchases in the program, though, SNAP is anything but nutritious for recipients or the country as a whole. Instead of misleading the public as to its benefits, SNAP should be renamed its original title, the Food Stamp Program. This name…is also a reminder of the core goal of the program: to serve our nation’s most vulnerable.

Amendment 1002 – SNAP Promotion Limitation: Limits the amount of SNAP funding that may be used to promote increased participation and enrollment in the program to 1% of overall funds and prevents SNAP funding for soap operas and parties. Additional information here.

Giveaways, soap operas, and radio miniseries all may be solid advertising opportunities for private companies wishing to market a product. They are not, however, appropriate uses of taxpayer funds to advocate for greater enrollment in SNAP, which would even further drain the government’s already-depleted coffers.

Want to take bets on whether the Senate, let alone the House, will pass any of these?

via Food Politics » Civics lesson: SNAP amendments to the farm bill.

The Dake Page: Senators Lautenberg and Vitter Announce Bipartisan Chemical Safety Improvement Act

In a surprise move, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ), long a champion of safer chemicals, and Republican Senator David Vitter (LA) jointly announced introduction of the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013.

The bipartisan cosponsors include: co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Charles Schumer (D-NY), James Inhofe (R-OK), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and John Hoeven (R-ND).

via The Dake Page: Senators Lautenberg and Vitter Announce Bipartisan Chemical Safety Improvement Act.

Where’s the catch? Hope it is an improvement…

Cadmium-Laced Rice Found in China · Global Voices

Rice contaminated with high levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium, dubbed “cadmium rice,” is the latest food scandal in China to trigger public panic and anger among the country’s consumers.

The Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration revealed[zh] on May 16 that eight out of 18 rice samples tested in local markets contained excessive levels of cadmium. Most of the polluted rice comes from the southern province of Hunan, China’s top rice producing province.

“Cadmium in rice usually comes from the soil where it grows, and the soil was polluted by mining and chemical wastes,” Fan Zhihong, a food safety expert at China Agricultural University in Beijing, told the state-run Global Times.

via Cadmium-Laced Rice Found in China · Global Voices.

Monsanto, Bayer seek answers to bee losses – Ruse, wash, hoax

The European Union said this month it would ban the class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, or “neonics,” used for corn and other crops as well as on home lawns and gardens. Similar constraints in the United States could cost manufacturers millions of dollars in sales.

“We are concerned… that the science sometimes gets trumped by the politics,” said Dave Fischer, an ecotoxicologist at Bayer CropScience who is meeting with bee keepers and studying the bee deaths. He said critics “are searching for a culprit.”

via Monsanto, Bayer seek answers to bee losses.

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid

Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn will seek to offset federal aid to victims of a massive tornado that blasted through Oklahoma City suburbs on Monday with cuts elsewhere in the budget.

They’re parodying themselves at this point…

via Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn Will Seek To Offset Tornado Aid.

A Kurdish Spring in Syria | World | DW.DE | 22.05.2013

Everything is more complex than people have thought for past year or so…

At the start of the revolt, Assad gave the stateless Kurds their citizenship back, in order to head off uprisings in the Kurdish regions of the country too. For tactical reasons, a section of the Syrian army was withdrawn from Kurdish areas and redeployed elsewhere.

“The revolution brought a change. We didn’t start from scratch, we were ready for a solution to the Kurdish question,” says Abdullah. So units of the Kurdish Popular Protection Units, the YPG, the military arm of the PYD, brought large areas of the Kurdish region under control, with the help of the PKK.

“We believe in a democratic model for the whole of Syria,” says Abdullah. “Democracy is the political solution to Syria’s problems. We don’t want to divide Syria; we believe we can live together as brothers in a democratic Syria.”

via A Kurdish Spring in Syria | World | DW.DE | 22.05.2013.

Mysterious illness kills 2 in southeast Alabama – Wire National News – The Sacramento Bee

A mysterious respiratory illness has left five people hospitalized and two dead in southeast Alabama, state health officials said Tuesday.

Seven people have been admitted to hospitals with a fever, cough and shortness of breath in recent weeks, Alabama Department of Public Health spokeswoman Mary McIntyre said in a statement.

Two of the seven have died. The Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control Respiratory Laboratory are analyzing lab tests from all seven patients. McIntyre says officials hope to have preliminary results on the samples back by Wednesday or Thursday morning.

The illness was first reported late last week and the last of the seven patients was hospitalized Monday, McIntyre said.

It wasn’t immediately clear which municipalities the illnesses were concentrated in.

“We’re only aware of the Southeast, but we don’t know – we haven’t received reports from anywhere else,” McIntyre said. “That’s why we’re trying to get the information out.”

McIntyre said it’s unclear what’s causing the illness but some of the seven patients also had the flu. Authorities are urging hospital staff to wear masks when caring for patients who appear to be suffering from respiratory illnesses.

The Centers for Disease Control referred all questions to Alabama health officials.

via Mysterious illness kills 2 in southeast Alabama – Wire National News – The Sacramento Bee.

Anyone of them recent visit to Saudi Arabia?