Every morning I have to look in the mirror and deal with the fact that I almost killed my son when I made the decision to give him raw milk. During his two-month stay in the hospital, he endured endless hours on a ventilator, kidney dialysis, chest drainage tubes, central lines, PICC lines, blood, plasma and platelet transfusions, intravenous nutrition, narcotics, antibiotics, and surgeries. He recovered from renal failure, congestive heart failure, a collapsed lung, acute pancreatitis, high blood pressure and seizures. When I made the choice to give my son raw milk, I didn’t know something so horrific could happen to him.
Food Politics » Keeping track of the farm bill: 194 amendments so far, just in the Senate
Keeping track of the farm bill: 194 amendments so far, just in the Senate
Congress is in recess this week so nothing new is happening on the farm bill.
I’m indebted to Jerry Hagstrom, who writes the Hagstrom Report and follows farm bill issues closely, for publishing a list of amendments filed to date on the Senate draft of the bill. Would you believe 194?
Of these, the Senate has managed to deal with a few.
The Senate passed:
Cantwell amendment to allow Indian tribes to participate in certain soil and water conservation programs. (#919)
Sessions amendment to clarify eligibility criteria for agricultural irrigation assistance. (#945, as modified) by unanimous consent.
Franken amendment to provide access to grocery delivery for homebound seniors and individuals with disabilities eligible for supplemental nutrition assistance benefits. (#992) by unanimous consent.
Vitter amendment to end food stamp eligibility for convicted violent rapists, pedophiles, and murderers. (#1056) by unanimous consent. (Even if your served your time, Vitter wants to continue punishing you)
It rejected:
Shaheen amendment to reform the federal sugar program, and for other purposes. (#925)
Gillibrand amendment to strike a reduction in the supplemental nutrition assistance program, with an offset that limits crop insurance reimbursements to providers. (#931)
Roberts amendment to improve and extend certain nutrition programs. (#948)
Inhofe amendment to repeal the nutrition entitlement programs and establish a nutrition assistance block grant program. (#960)
Sanders amendment to permit states to require that any food, beverage, or other edible product offered for sale have a label on indicating that the food, beverage, or other edible product contains a genetically engineered ingredient. (#965) by a vote of 71 to 27.
Attempts to eliminate cuts to SNAP failed (sigh) but so did an attempt to leave food stamps up to states (cheers). This means SNAP will have at least a $4 billion cut over 10 years—the best that can be hoped for at this point.
The Senate rejected GM labeling.
Reform the sugar program? Don’t be silly. At some point, I’ll have more to say about that one.
As for the next 190 or so…. And as for what the House will do….
It would be great drama if it weren’t so sad and so much weren’t at stake.
via Food Politics » Keeping track of the farm bill: 194 amendments so far, just in the Senate.
Resilience
The Weekend in Gun Violence – NYTimes.com Sunday 2.0
Two men are in the hospital following a shooting early Sunday at a Knights of Columbus Hall in Opelousas, La. A woman was critically injured after being shot in the chest by a stray bullet that came into her Whites Creek, Tenn., home Sunday night. A bullet pierced the walls of a Forrest City, Ark., home and hit a woman in the knee Sunday night.
The Weekend in Gun Violence – NYTimes.com / Sunday 1.0
A 15-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed after she and her 12-year-old sister were handling a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun in their LeFlore County, Miss., home Sunday. A 41-year-old woman was killed and five others were wounded when Esteban Smith, 23, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, randomly fired at vehicles as he drove around Concho County, Tex., in his pickup Sunday afternoon.
The Weekend in Gun Violence – NYTimes.com Saturday – way too many shootings
A 15-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the face by her father, 38-year-old Matthew Holmes, who took out his 9mm while visiting friends in Honesdale, Pa., Saturday night.
The Weekend in Gun Violence – NYTimes.com Friday – a portion only
1-year-old Carter Scott was killed and his father, Rashaw Scott, 22, was wounded when three people opened fire as they sat in a parked car outside an apartment complex in Cherry Hill, Md., Friday evening. An 11-year-old Homestead, Fla., boy who brought a gun to school was shot in the leg and wounded after it accidentally discharged inside his backpack. Keshawn Carter Davis, 12, was accidentally shot and killed inside a Greenville, N.C., home Friday morning. A 15-year-old was driven to the hospital and left there by his family after he was shot multiple times and wounded at his Richmond, Va., apartment Thursday night. Tonquinisha “NeNe” McKinley, 17, was killed and Uniqua Wicker, 18, Raven Howard, 19, and Pamela Jordan, 39, were wounded when gunfire erupted at an unofficial Saginaw High School pre-prom gathering in Saginaw, Mich., Thursday night.
Adventures in open water swimming #4: Of wetsuits and jellyfish
Open water swimming is a challenge and a wet suit definitely makes it easier. My mother used to swim 10 miles out and ten beck in Providence, RI in the 1930s and kept up until in her early 60s.
Editor’s note: Before I begin this post, I wanted to say hi, welcome, wilkommen, bienvenida, bienvenue, and holy shit, there are a lot of new readers here. I am sorry that I was not able to respond to every comment, but I got overwhelmed. I did read all of them, though, and thank you to all of you who said nice, supportive things about my post. Y’all know how to make a lady feel good. 🙂
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Wetsuits are controversial in the sport of triathlon. There are concerns that some people wear them as sort of a crutch, to make up for a lack of swimming ability and allow less than skilled swimmers to take part in races they are not adequately prepared to do. It’s easy enough to see how this might be the case, as a tri-specific wetsuit is made up of a rubberized neoprene that basically turns…
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Egypt Needs a Security Strategy For Sinai
Need strategy and a willingness to serve those who live there…
(Soldiers who were kidnapped last week sit before a news conference by President Mohammed Morsi after their release, photo by REUTERS)
I wrote this piece for Al-Monitor. Look forward to your feedbacks and comments
Last week, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Hamas government in Gaza called on Egypt to revise the Camp David Accords, which were signed with Israel. His speech came after the kidnapping and later release of Egyptian security personnel in Sinai by radical jihadist groups.
The debate about the peace treaty with Israel is not new. It is as old as the treaty itself. The recent deterioration of security in Sinai, however, particularly after the ouster of the Mubarak regime, has reinvigorated the debate about the Camp David Accords. This is especially the case regarding amendment of the security arrangement in Sinai.
It may look like an easy fix; let’s bring the Egyptian army in to…
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Saying ‘No’ to genetically modified food | Europe | DW.DE | 28.05.2013
Planting genetically engineered plants – even for tests – is prohibited in Germany. Only two products – Monsanto’s MON 810 corn and the Amflora potato of the German company BASF – are licensed to be grown in Europe. There’s not much acreage under GMO crops, at least compared to North and South America.
Protecting profits
At first, many US farmers were thrilled by the economic success Monsanto promised. The genetically engineered plants and matching chemicals ensured large harvests with little effort. The drawback was that every year, the farmers were forced to buy seeds to grow the next crop – Monsanto regards replicating the seeds as infringing on its patent. Another drawback, Töwe says, is a massive increase in resistance: pests and weeds are on the rise, making new pesticides necessary.
Töwe notes the use of pesticides has surged over the past years in the US, as well as in Argentina and Brazil, where genetically modified soy and corn are grown. As a result, the seed company is designing new genetically engineered plants that can withstand even larger amounts of chemicals, in what Töwe describes as a perverted” cycle. “Plants like that need to be tested on animals like drugs,” Töwe warns. “There are enough plants which have already been bred that do not need that kind of testing.”
via Saying ‘No’ to genetically modified food | Europe | DW.DE | 28.05.2013.


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