Tainted Chicken Coming To A Store Near You.......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-chicken-plants-chemicals-blamed-for-health-ailments-are-poised-to-proliferate/2013/04/25/d2a65ec8-97b1-11e2-97cd-3d8c1afe4f0f_story.html?hpid=z1

(Everything in this story is bad news.  Bad… bad…. and more bad.  Enjoy your chicken dinner.  I am sure it will be tasty………)

“Agriculture Department health inspectors say processing plants are turning to the chemicals to remove contaminants that escape notice as processing line speeds have accelerated”  (That is bad)

“The department is now poised to allow a further increase in line speeds, boosting the maximum speed by about 25 percent. This change is part of new regulations that officials say would make poultry production more efficient and transfer more responsibility for inspections to industry.” (that is bad)

“To keep speeds up, the new regulations would allow visibly contaminated birds to remain on the lines — rather than being discarded or removed for off-line cleaning” (That is really bad)

“all carcasses” on the line would be treated with antimicrobial chemicals “whether they are contaminated or not.” (That is bad)

“In a private report to the House Appropriations Committee, the USDA said where plants have already accelerated line speeds, workers have been exposed to larger amounts of cleaning agents. “The use of powerful antimicrobial chemicals has increased in order to decrease microbial loads on carcasses,” (That is bad)

“USDA inspectors and poultry industry employees described a range of ailments they attributed to chemical exposure, including asthma and other severe respiratory problems, burns, rashes, irritated eyes and sinus ulcers and other sinus problems.” (That is bad)

“inspectors reporting illnesses and injuries due to chemical exposure in poultry plants where slaughter line speeds have already increased.” (That is bad)

“They are mixing chemicals together in these plants, and it’s making people sick,” said Hitt. “Does it work better at killing off pathogens? Yes, but it also can send someone into respiratory arrest.” (That is bad)

“government agencies have not conducted independent research into the possible side effects on consumers of using the chemicals. Instead, they review data provided by chemical manufacturers.” (That is bad)

“Nor has the USDA studied the effects of the chemicals on its inspectors or private employees. USDA officials said that research into worker safety is a job for other agencies. But no industry-wide study has been done by the government, and it does not keep a comprehensive record of illnesses possibly caused by the use of chemicals in the poultry industry.” (That is bad)

“at least five facilities had problems with chemicals during the past three years, according to agency documents. The most common citations were for failing to properly label hazardous chemicals, failing to train employees on how to handle the chemicals and a failure to have monitoring equipment in place that would detect when chemicals, such as ammonia, reach toxic levels in a plant.” (That is bad)

“During the investigation at the plant, inspectors and plant workers offered a raft of complaints. They said they suffered from irritation to their respiratory system, two reported “coughing up blood,” and still others had “various skin diseases,” an OSHA report said.” (That is bad)

“If the White House signs off on the USDA’s proposed regulations as expected, poultry plants could speed up their slaughter lines later this year.” (Obama is definitely looking out for the little guy)

The maximum speed for chickens would increase from 140 birds per minute to 175 birds per minute, for turkeys 45 to 55 per minute. Workers, who already often complain of carpal tunnel and other musculoskeletal disorders, will have to pluck, chop and sort birds even faster. (That is bad)

At the same time, the new regulations would reduce the number of federal health inspectors in the plants by as much as 40 percent. (That is bad)

There are financial incentives for both the USDA and the industry: The agency expects to save $90 million during the next three years from the staff reductions, and poultry plants could save more than $200 million annually. (That is bad…for the consumer and the worker.  Great for the executives)

The combination of faster processing and fewer government eyeballs means that companies will increasingly rely on chemicals to keep the poultry free of contaminants,  (That is bad)

“They don’t talk about it publicly, but the line speeds are so fast, they are not spotting contamination, like fecal matter, as the birds pass by (That is bad)

“Their attitude is, let the chemicals do the work.”  (That is bad)

Boeing Last Hurdle‏

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-10/boeing-faces-last-hurdle-for-dreamliner-with-no-rush-faa.html 

troubled 787 Dreamliner back in the air is headed for a challenging final hurdle: It needs approval from the U.S. agency that’s already been burned by signing off on the plane’s safety. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is under scrutiny for clearing the 787 in 2007, only to reverse itself after lithium- ion batteries overheated on two jets. 

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose agency includes the FAA, declared the planes safe days before they were ordered parked. FAA officials will face the National Transportation Safety Board this month to explain their initial decision. 

Boeing needs the FAA to end a Jan. 16 grounding order so deliveries can resume from an order book valued at almost $190 billion. Politics, not just safety, will weigh on the agency as it reviews the Dreamliner’s battery redesign and test-flight data. 

In a normal situation, the secretary would never be involved  When this plane comes crashing down in a giant fireball and 200 people are killed who is going to explain that politics played a role?  Now the Secretary himself has been linked to this pending disaster. 

“This will move really fast in terms of being able to get the airplanes back into the air” once the FAA approves the reworked batteries,  We just throw a steel box into the electronics bay, place the battery into the box, and lock it shut.  Drill a hole in the side of the plane with a pipe to vent the gases and we are done.  When the “runaway” fire happens hopefully the fire will stay in the box and the passengers won’t even know about it.  That is the plan.  Lets make it happen. 

“We want to get it right,” LaHood said. “We want to make sure that everything’s done correctly. We want to be able to assure the flying public that these planes are safe.”  None of those statements are true. 

FAA isn’t discussing its plans for deciding whether the battery fix is satisfactory beyond saying that it won’t sign off on the Dreamliner’s return to commercial flight until the new battery system is deemed safe  The fires don’t happen on every flight so how many test flights before the plane is safe? 

At a Jan. 11 news conference, he and FAA chief Michael Huerta declared the plane safe. Less than a week afterward, an ANA 787’s battery began smoldering and spewing vapor above Japan, prompting an emergency landing and then the grounding. 

One challenge for Boeing is that it’s betting everything on one solution to the battery faults, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at consultant Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia. An FAA rejection would be a major setback, he said. 

“Even if there’s only a 5 or 10 percent chance that it won’t satisfy the FAA, that’s a big risk especially if there isn’t a backup plan,” he said. 

There’s also a chance that the FAA may shorten the distance that the Dreamliner is able to fly from the nearest airport. The 787 is now cleared for so-called Etops, or extended operations, flights of 180 minutes. Even a temporary reduction would limit the jet’s use on the overseas routesfor which it was designed.  Do you want to be over the Pacific Ocean when it is discovered that the metal box will not contain the runaway fire?

Billionairs Dumping stocks‏

http://www.moneynews.com/MKTNews/billionaires-dump-economist-stock/2012/08/29/id/450265?PROMO_CODE=110D8-1&utm_source=taboola 

Last year Warren Buffett predicted there would NOT be another recession.  I told you Warren Buffett doesn’t know what he was talking about.  Warren must have read that email because he is now dumping stocks at a record pace. 

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods. If Warren read any of my 10,000 Tylenol sucks emails that I have been sending out since 2009 he wouldn’t be so disappointed in Johnson and Johnson.  He would have run to the exit on that stock years ago.  Too bad he wasn’t paying attention. 

Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome. I say stuff and nobody cares.  Buffett says stuff and everybody sits up and takes notes.  The only difference is I am right years before Buffett figures it out. 

Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.

So why are these billionaires dumping their shares of U.S. companies? 

After all, the stock market is still in the midst of its historic rally. Real estate prices have finally leveled off, and for the first time in five years are actually rising in many locations. And the unemployment rate seems to have stabilized. 

It’s very likely that these professional investors are aware of specific research that points toward a massive market correction, as much as 90%.

FAA Closing Towers....‏

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/06/us/politics/faa-will-delay-closings-of-airport-towers-forced-by-sequestration.html?_r=0 

 Republicans love talking about cutting government spending….Cut, Cut, Cut….The more you cut the better.  

That is until they actually cut something and it affects them.  Then suddenly they are not such big fans.  

As part of the Sequester the FAA is closing lots of regional air traffic control towers.  That means rich republicans with their fancy private planes are now on their own.  

They must fly using VFR – Visual Flight Rules.  Instead of having an FAA controller (manage the traffic) now everyone is on their own.  It is up to each pilot to look out the window and not crash.  

You would think that would be a Republican dream come true.  After all Republicans want government out of their lives.  Having everybody take “personal responsibility…..  and have personal “liberty” to live however they like. 

That sounds great (in speeches) but in real life suddenly they are no longer interested.  They want the government sitting in that tower feeding them information. They want the government keeping them safe.  They demand it.  

Cutting Social Security is fine but please don’t cut our control towers.  We need to fly our private planes and it is up to the government to keep us safe.  

Why don’t these plane owners pool their money and hire private controllers.  Republicans LOVE the private sector.  The government is bad, awful, and terrible.  It is all about the free market.  So go hire private controllers and stop complaining.  

They wanted budget cuts and now they got them.  Congrats…and have a safe flight.

Obama going after Social Security and Medicare‏

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-entitlement-cuts-budget-20130405,0,4770368.story 

Obama is starting to go after Social Security and Medicare. 

Obama won reelection.   Now he never has to run again.  He just started his second term and it is time to attack social Security and Medicare.  If you don’t like that idea you can punish Democrats by voting for Republicans.  For the record Republicans hate Entitlements too.  

Here is one more example of why (no matter who you vote for) you end up with the same thing.  

Democrats are supposed to be the champions of Entitlements.  If you want to protect them you need to vote for Democrats.  Republicans HATE entitlements.  But in reality they both hate entitlements.  

Now that Obama is bulletproof he is happy to show you what he really thinks.  

Is Obama going after the oil company tax loop holes?  Nope!  Oil companies are making record profits and have been for 13 years.  They are currently drilling record amounts of oil in the United States.  

When Oil is drilled in Saudi Arabia that country prospers.  When oil is drilled in Russia that country prospers.  When oil is drilled in Kuwait that country prospers.  But when oil is drilled in the USA…… only the oil companies prosper.  The country gets nothing.   Oil companies want to be able to drill on public land but they don’t want to share any of the riches.  Even though what they are taking really belongs to the people.  Then the oil companies get special tax deals on top of all of that as the politicians stand and clap. 

Obama could suggest taxing guns.  He can’t ban guns (because of the second amendment) but he sure could tax the crap out of them.  Make them so expensive people stop buying them.  When professional sports teams raised ticket prices people stopped going.  Go try and buy a ticket to a Yankees game…..There are tens of thousands to choose from.  When concert promoters raised ticket prices people stopped going.  Raising price works.  Raising prices on guns (through taxes) is a fantastic idea.  It could help public safety and (or) help the deficit problem.  So is Obama proposing that?  Nope!  

Corporations are sitting on record profits….http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/03/news/economy/record-corporate-profits/index.html.  So is Obama asking Corporations to pay anymore?  Nope.  Actually it is the opposite.  Corporations should get tax cuts….You know to create jobs.  They have record profits TODAY and we have no jobs.  But if they receive more tax breaks they would magically start hiring more people…..In China.  

Yes the real people who need to pay are the old people.  Social Security and Medicare should be where the cuts happen.  

The rich are richer then they have ever been (at any time in history) thanks to the Bush Tax cuts. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/opinion/the-rich-get-even-richer.html?_r=0 

It only cost the government over a trillion dollars to make rich people even richer, (all while creating zero new jobs).  To pay for the deficit (those misguided cuts created) we now need to punish the old people.  

People like to pretend entitlements are welfare but really those programs have been paid into for decades.  The politicians then squandered all the money (plus 16 Trillion more we didn’t have).  Republicans are responsible for squandering the money and so are the Democrats.  

We did get an amazing military out all that spending though.  Sure it can’t defeat the Taliban over 12 years (only took 4 to defeat the nazi’s and the Empire Of Japan) but it is well funded.  The Taliban war machine (with all their crazy high tech weapons technology) has really been a tough nut to crack.  Their budget must be at least the same as the USA to go toe to toe with us.  Yes we are definitely getting our money’s worth. 

My generation is still paying into entitlements and we will get even less.  But that is OK because our generation has giant Pensions waiting for us…..Oh wait….. they got rid of all the pensions.  They got rid of the pensions……. Now they will start to get rid of the entitlements.  Our retirement is going to be great.  At least everyone can know our governments priorities are well placed. 

Republicans and Democrats…..They both need to go.  

Imessage can't be tracked. Iphone is the BEST‏

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57577887-38/apples-imessage-encryption-trips-up-feds-surveillance/ 

If you want your conversations to remain private you should buy an Iphone.  Otherwise your gansta activity could be monitored. 

Encryption used in Apple's iMessage chat service has stymied attempts by federal drug enforcement agents to eavesdrop on suspects' 

An internal Drug Enforcement Administration document seen by CNET discusses a February 2013 criminal investigation and warns that because of the use of encryption, "it is impossible tointercept iMessages between two Apple devices" even with a court order approved by a federal judge 

The DEA's warning, marked "law enforcement sensitive," is the most detailed example to date of the technological obstacles -- FBI director Robert Mueller has called it the "Going Dark" problem -- that police face when attempting to conduct court-authorized surveillance on non-traditional forms of communication. 

When Apple's iMessage was announced in mid-2011, Cupertino said it would use "secure end-to-end encryption." It quickly became the most popular encrypted chat program in history: Apple CEO Tim Cook said last fall that 300 billion messages have been sent so far, which are transmitted through the Internet rather than as more costly SMS messages carried by wireless providers. 

The real issue is why the phone companies in 2013 are still delivering an unencrypted audio and text service to users. It's disgraceful."

Invent A Job‏

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/opinion/sunday/friedman-need-a-job-invent-it.html?_r=0 

This entire article is a bunch of blah blah blah…..Until someone finds a solution to corporate American sending all the jobs to slave laborers in Communist Red China nothing else is going to solve anything.  It is all just a bunch of noise. 

Who is doing it right?

“Finland is one of the most innovative economies in the world,” he said, “and it is the only country where students leave high school ‘innovation-ready.’  They learn concepts and creativity more than facts, and have a choice of many electives — all with a shorter school day, little homework, and almost no testing. In the U.S., 500 K-12 schools affiliated with Hewlett Foundation’s Deeper Learning Initiative and a consortium of 100 school districts called EdLeader21 are developing new approaches to teaching 21st-century skills.

So Finland is the shining example for the world.  So lets see how well their economy is doing……

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/finland/unemployment-rate

Oh look 8.7% unemployment.  Yeah that is pretty impressive!

Fannie Mae Record Profit

http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/02/news/companies/fannie-mae-record-profit/ 

Mortgage financing giant Fannie Mae Tuesday reported a record profit of $17.2 billion 

Just four years ago, the government had to step in and take control of Fannie Mae  

I thought the government couldn’t run any thing right?  I thought only the private sector can run things.  So the private sector ran it into the ground and the government fixed it.  Interesting… 

Fannie Mae is poised to pay tens of billions of dollars in additional dividends to the U.S. Treasury, perhaps as soon as this quarter, in what could turn out to be its largest repayment to date. The government has pumped in $116 billion in bailout.  

The 2012 profit was more than twice the company's previous record of $8.1 billion in 2003,  

Fannie's $7.6 billion profit in the final three months of the year also represented its best quarter on record. 

Fannie pays dividends to the Treasury on shares that the government owns. Dividend payments totaled $11.6 billion in 2012 and $4 billion so far in 2013, bringing the total of its Treasury payments to $35.6 billion. 

So lets do the math.  The government pumped in 116 Billion.  The company paid back 35 Billion.  As far as I can tell they have a long long way to go.

Obama wants to Map the Brain‏

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/02/17565983-obama-unveils-white-house-brain-mapping-project#comments 

The White House plans to unveil a human brain research program that could point to new strategies for dealing with illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and autism later Tuesday. 

The project will be jump-started with a $100 million investment in 2014, the White House said, although the scientists who inspired the idea say the focus is not so much raising money as harnessing new technologies to uncover the secrets of neural function less expensively and more completely. 

The public-private initiative, with money from groups such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's brain mapping project, aims to find a way to take pictures of the brain in action in real time. 

The $100 million funding will come from the National Institutes of Health, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation, the White House said. 

I have no problem with this…..BUT why do tax payers need to be funding it?  

This kind of research should be happening at colleges and Universities.  Last I checked these institutions were swimming in money.  Let them fund it. 

Does Harvard not have any money these days?  Does Yale not have any money these days.  Oh look….Yes they do. 

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/the-short-list-college/articles/2012/11/27/10-colleges-with-largest-financial-endowments

School name (state)	FY 2011 Endowment	U.S. News rank & category
Harvard University (MA)	$32,012,729,000	1, National Universities
Yale University (CT)	$19,174,387,000	3, National Universities
Princeton University (NJ)	$17,162,603,000	1, National Universities
Stanford University (CA)	$16,502,606,000	6, National Universities
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$9,712,628,000	6, National Universities
Columbia University (NY)	$7,789,578,000	4, National Universities
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor	$7,725,307,000	29, National Universities
University of Pennsylvania	$6,582,030,000	8, National Universities
University of Notre Dame(IN)	$6,383,344,000	17, National Universities
Duke University (NC)	$5,747,377,000	8, National Universities

USA Flexing muscles to North Korea.‏

When the United States wants to unzips its pants and show the world how big our man hood is this is what that looks like. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/04/01/north-korea-south-korea-tension/2041441/ 

Sending two F-22 planes has no military purpose.  It is simply for propaganda purposes. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/world/asia/us-begins-stealth-bombing-runs-over-south-korea.html?_r=0 

Flying the Stealth Bomber during the daytime also has no military purpose.  It is simply to get some intimidating pictures on the front page of every newspaper around the world.  The Black B2 bomber against the blue sky is an intimidating sight….When you see it coming you would be right to be frightened…… but if you see it at all then it isn’t really doing its job.  Flying during the day is only about sending a message.  The message is……..Not only can’t your radar see it.  But it can also deliver multiple Nuclear bombs.  Oh and it can also be flown non stop from the United States.  You won’t even see it coming…..So don’t F*ck with us.

Monsanto Protection Act...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57576835/critics-slam-obama-for-protecting-monsanto/

 Last Tuesday when everyone was pre occupied with the Supreme Court considering Gay Marriage…….. President Obama was at the White House very quietly signing the new budget bill.  Republicans and Democrats slapped each other on the back because the government would not be shut down.  What Republicans and Democrats didn’t want you to know was in that spending bill was HR 933 (or the Monsanto Protection Bill as people like to call it).  

That bill provides legal protection to growers of GMO (Genetically Modified Food).  So when these giant agro farming corporations (They like to pretend it is mom and pop farming…..But it isn’t) go into their laboratories and start genetically modifying the food you are going to eat.  Not only do they not have to label the food (as they do in other countries) as genetically modified……but in 5 years when that Frankenfood gives you cancer (or you start growing a third arm) you won’t be able to sue anyone.  (Tort reform).  Not only that but a court won’t even be able to stop the food from being sold.  

The consumers hands have now been tied (by our government) just the way corporate America likes it.  So now you understand why it was so important for Obama to sign the bill quietly.  You concentrate on Gay Marriage and pay no attention to what is happening down the street.  The less you know the better.  Our system of government only works if you are completely stupid…..  Don’t disappoint them.  Oh and enjoy your food.  Even if you don’t there is nothing you can do about it.  Isn’t that great…….

China relentlessly bashing Apple‏

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/28/apple-china-negative-press/

China has been relentlessly bashing Apple.  They complain about Apples repair and warrantee service.  That is comical since Apple doesn’t repair anything.  If it is under warrantee they just give you a new one.  Nothing is ever repaired.  Bunch of nonsense. 

Regardless Apple caved and apologized.  Now China will get better warrantees.   http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/04/01/apple-china-cook-apology/ 

the repaired phones will get new 1-year warranties from the date of repair.  That is better then what we have in the USA. 

The correct answer should have been we are closing down all our Chinese factories and moving them to the United States.  That would have sent a message loud and clear.  But Apple doesn’t have the balls.