26 Oct 2006
Wild pigs eyed as source of E. coli spinach

It's bullshit, not pig shit that's causing the ruckus! And so is this bit of an attempt at a cover up - note the "expert" nearly admits as much:

"The pigs could have tracked the bacteria into the field or spread it through their droppings ..."

Which is to say, they could have tracked it from the "ranch" - more likely a feedlot - next door. So it's the pigs "fault". Shoot the wild boars!

What a crock! Literally. What kinda shit you want on that salad?

Wild pigs may have spread deadly bacteria onto a California spinach field, sparking an outbreak that killed three people and sickened more than 200 others nationwide, investigators said Thursday. They also said the outbreak appears to be over.

(link) [CNN.com]

21:56 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link

We Don't Need Drug Tests for Librarians

More casualties from the War on Some Drugs™ ...

They're not flying planes. They're showing the homeless how to use the microfiche readers. For free. The only people who profit from this are the stockholders of the drug testing company, who stood to make $33 a head, money the library would have otherwise just wasted on books.

(link) [Bill Maher]

via Dispatches from the Culture Wars

09:38 /Humor | 1 comment | permanent link

The Day the Music Died

Wow! An iTunes library of 90,000 songs! I've got about 1600 - and that includes a lot of background music from films, operas and assorted album cuts off classical albums that I was too lazy to exclude when ripping the CD. But ninety thousand songs!!! I wonder if I've heard that many different tunes in my entire lifetime!

The ability to download music has transformed the industry. It has also transformed human beings, apparently. Commentary by Tony Long.

(link) [Wired News]

09:26 /Technology | 1 comment | permanent link

Wealthy 'amenity' ranchers taking over the West

I would imagine that a lot of these folks fly to their "ranch" from their gentrified condo in the inner city - unless they're coming from their beach house. But in any case, this land is essentially being taken out of production and the rural population displaced. To the cities. where they can't afford a cheap hut downtown because they've all been turned into condos...

A 10-year survey suggests that in many parts of the American West, the grizzled, leathery rancher riding the range to take care of his cattle and make a buck is being replaced by wealthy "amenity" owners who fly in on weekends, fish in their private trout ponds and often prefer roaming elk to Herefords. They don't much care whether or not the ranch turns a profit. And many of them think that wolves are neat, the new study suggested.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

09:18 /Agriculture | 1 comment | permanent link

Muslim cleric slammed for remarks on women

Ya know, this says as much about Islamic attitudes towards men as it does about their attitude towards women: apparently, we're naught but testosterone driven sex machines, who can think of nothing else when interacting with the fairer sex.

Unless, of course, we're thinking about the good price we'll get for selling our virgin daughters into an arranged marriage.

But am I the only one to notice the distinct correspondence of these attitudes with those of our native fundie Christians? Isn't this fellow just crudely mouthing the old saw we've heard here that a womans place is in the home? Check out some of the drivel by James Dobson, Pat Robertson or the American "Family" Association - I shan't provide links: Google is your friend. You'll soon see what I'm driving at - the only thing that's different is the theological window dressing - the "moral" positions are nearly identical.

The only thing that scares me more than Islamic terrorists is the thought that they might get together with their fundie Christian brothers-in-law, and join forces. That would be the herald of a new Dark Age.

One of Australia's senior-most Islamic clerics has triggered outrage after comments reported Thursday comparing women who do not wear a headscarf to "uncovered meat" who invite rape.

(link) [CNN]

09:09 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link