November 4, 2011 · 11:57 am

The McRib Wars or the Fuss About Fast, Cruelly Created Frankenfood

Do people really eat these things?

There is so much wrong on so many levels here:

  1. Animal Cruelty allegations
  2. Frankenfood
  3. McDonalds
  4. Food additives
  5. It just sounds plain nasty….

This should really blow a hole in the “new” upscale, Starbucks type image McDonalds is promoting to fool people into eating this crap….

Of course, this being America, most won’t listen and will probably eat it anyway.  On the way to the polls to vote Republican.  While wondering why they are gaining weight and not feeling well….

From the Huffington Post, emphasis mine:

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced this week that it had filed an SEC complaint against Smithfield Farms, the large pig producer that supplies pork for McDonald’s divisive, limited-edition McRib sandwich. The complaint, which is posted in its entirety online, alleges that the pigs’ living conditions are cruel and unusual, citing reports of pigs covered in blood andsows being confined to tiny gestational grates, which are illegal in some states.

This isn’t the first time animal rights’ groups — or even the HSUS — has targeted Smithfield for its record on animal welfare. In December 2010, the HSUS got ahold of gruesome footage of a Smithfield Farms facility, leading respected figures like Mark Bittman to call for a boycott of meat from the company.

Indeed, this most recent complaint seems more like the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute than like a breaking development specifically occasioned by the McRib. An unsympathetic analysis of the HSUS action would probably lead to the conclusion that the group is tying its complaint to the McRib in order to drum up public attention for the cause. The sandwich, after all, has long been a lightning rod for press coverage.

That’s not to say that the McRib is some kind of pristine product of nature, of course. Before the HSUS complaint surfaced, several media outlets had conducted investigations into the myriad of bizarre ingredients that go into the boneless “rib” patty at the center of the sandwich.

The pork bits that make up the meat include “tripe, heart and scalded stomach,” which is bad enough. But the chemical additives that go into the sandwich are even worse. Allegedly, when the additives aren’t binding lung and liver bits together, they’re used for keeping yoga mats springy and shoe soles white.

via McRib Lawsuit Pits Humane Society Against Smithfield Farms, McDonald’s Over Animal Welfare.

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November 3, 2011 · 8:00 pm

Woman Trapped In Airport For Eight Days Due To Hidden Fees on USAirways

Do you really need any further proof that USAirways is evil?

I’m waiting for Occupy Wall Street to set off an Occupy Airports movement.  These U.S. Airlines are too incompetently managed by too many over paid executives to make a profit, so they find ways of nickel and diming the passengers to death.  Now that airlines are about the only means of public transportation in the US, they have become the equivalent of buses.  Hence, poor people like this unfortunate woman end up at their mercy.

And they have no mercy…..

From AOL.  Emphasis is mine….

 

For Terri Weissinger, who was trapped in San Francisco International Airport for over a week, it was nothing short of a nightmare.

With only $30 to her name, the Sonoma native was virtually broke and looking to start afresh in Idaho. She booked a ticket from San Francisco to the Gem State on the travel website Orbitz but, because she purchased her ticket before a new federal law went into effect requiring ticket brokers to disclose all hidden fees, Weissinger was unaware of the extra $60 U.S. Airways would charge at the airport to check her two bags.

Weissinger offered to pay the fee once she got to her destination or leave one of her bags behind; however, U.S. Airways personnel refused, citing airline policy for denying her former request and airport security regulations for denying the latter.

While attempting to resolve her situation, Weissinger missed her plane—thereby racking up another $150 in fees.

Weissinger ended up spending eight stressful days living in the terminal and sleeping in an out-of-the-way stairwell. She was treated for anxiety at the airport medical clinic. When she attempted to plead with airport authorities for help, she was threatened with arrest on vagrancy charges.

“[It’s] ridiculous,” said Weissinger to ABC 7. “I couldn’t believe it sometimes, you know, it’s just incredibly ridiculous situation to be in.”

Out of options, Weissinger saw a listing for the nearby Airport Church of Christ in a phone book and placed a call. Moved by her situation, the church quickly raised the necessary $210 to get Weissinger out of her predicament and on her way.

When ABC 7 asked U.S. Airways about Weissinger’s situation, the airline responded: “We have apologized to Ms. Weissinger for her experience, but unfortunately are unable to offer a refund. When you purchase a non-refundable ticket, you accept the terms and conditions. If a passenger cannot travel with their bags, they need to make other arrangements.”

Airline fees have spiraled in recent years as sites like Orbitz and Travelocity have allowed customers to instantly compare ticket prices between competing airlines. The easy access to this information has pushed airlines to offer cheaper ticket prices up front, ensuring their results appear closer to the top of any given search. As a result, they are relying more heavily on additional fees popping up later in the ticketing process to make up a larger portion of their revenue.

MORE:   Terri Weissinger Trapped In Airport For Eight Grueling Days Due To Hidden Fees (VIDEO).

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November 3, 2011 · 6:31 pm

Home Allegedly Set Afire in Neighbors’ Facebook Feud

I’ve seen some heated arguments on Facebook, but this takes the cake!

With Facebook friends like these, who needs enemies?

Police in Des Moines, Iowa, have arrested 30-year-old Jennifer Christine Harris (pictured left) for allegedly setting her neighbor’s house on fire, according to the Des Moines Register. The suspected motive? Retribution for being “de-friended” on the popular social networking site.

Nikki and Jim Rasmussen awoke to the sound of a loud “boom” around 1 a.m., officials said, and escaped the home just as the siding on their house began to melt.

When asked who might have caused the fire, Jim Rasmussen named Harris as the prime suspect. She and Nikki Rasmussen had a falling out on Facebook, he told police, when a party invitation that his wife volunteered to create for Harris yielded a high number of “declines.”

After a large volume of text and Facebook messages, the dispute escalated to the point where Nikki Rasmussen “de-friended” Harris. She and Harris had been the best of friends before the dispute, according to The Associated Press.

More:   Home Allegedly Set Afire in Neighbors’ Facebook Feud | AOL Real Estate.

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November 3, 2011 · 6:18 pm

650,000 Americans Joined Credit Unions Last Month — More Than In All Of 2010 Combined

This is great news!  As a happy Credit Union Member for over 20 years, all I can say is welcome!  You will be very happy here.

I’ve said it again and again:  I don’t understand why anyone wants to bank with the big national banks.  They will screw you on fees and treat you like dirt.  Take your money to a Credit Union where you are one of the owners helping other owners and community members.

From ThinkProgress.org:

One of the tactics the 99 Percenters are using to take back the country from the 1 percent is to move their money from big banks to credit unions, community banks, and other smaller financial unions that aren’t gambling with our nation’s future.

Now, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) reports that a whopping 650,000 Americans have joined credit unions since Sept. 29 — the date that Bank of America announced it would start charging a $5 monthly debit fee, a move it backed down on this week.

To put that in perspective, there were only 600,000 new members for credit unions in all of 2010. “These results indicate that consumers are clearly making a smarter choice by moving to credit unions where, on average, they will save about $70 a year in fewer or no fees, lower rates on loans and higher return on savings,” said CUNA President Bill Cheney.

This Saturday, 99 Percenters are calling on Americans to move their money from big banks to credit unions and community banks on what is being called “Bank Transfer Day.” If you want to stand with the 99 Percent and take part in this action, use the Move Your Money project’s community bank and credit union finder tool to find out how.

via 650,000 Americans Joined Credit Unions Last Month — More Than In All Of 2010 Combined | ThinkProgress.

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November 2, 2011 · 9:40 pm

Big Banks Extracting Fees On Unemployment Benefits

These big banks are just plain evil….

I was in BB&T last week and saw a sign saying they would charge either $8 or $12 to cash a check drawn on their bank for people without an account of their own.  That should be illegal.

And now I see this?

Evil… just plain evil.

If banks are going to administer Government benefits, they should be required, by contract, not to charge the people receiving the benefits.  They still make money from merchants when debit/credit cards are used and that’s fine.  It’s soaking the beneficiaries, who can least afford it, that is just plain wrong….

Evil…just plain evil.

I don’t know why anyone deals with these banks who doesn’t have to do so.  The rest of us should be moving our money out to Credit Unions or, at the very least, local community banks….

Out of work and living on a $189-a-week unemployment check, Rob Linville needs to watch every penny. Lately, he has been watching too many pennies disappear into the coffers of the bank that administers his unemployment check via a prepaid debit card.

The state of Oregon, where Linville lives, deposits his weekly benefits on a U.S. Bank prepaid debit card. The bank allows him to make four withdrawals per month free of charge. After that, he must pay $1.50 for each visit to the ATM and $3 to see a teller. Managing his basic expenses, including rent, bus fare and groceries, typically requires more than four withdrawals, he says. Unexpected needs — Linville recently bought a sport coat for $20 to prepare for a job interview — entail more. He’s afraid to withdraw his full benefits in one shot, knowing that the bank could sock him with a $17.50 overdraft fee if he exceeds his balance. So he pulls out small amounts of cash as he needs it, incurring about $15 in fees in the last two months he says.

“I’m so broke,” Linville said, his voice expressing resignation that this is simply how the world works. “But I don’t really have any other options.”

Across the nation, people receiving a range of state-furnished benefits — from unemployment insurance and food stamps to cash assistance for poor families — are facing similar options and reaching the same conclusion. In 41 states major banks and financial firms have secured contracts to provide access to public benefits via prepaid debit cards. And banks are increasingly extracting hefty cuts of these funds through an assortment of small fees. U.S. Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other institutions hold contracts to distribute these benefits on prepaid debit cards.

via Banks Extract Fees On Unemployment Benefits.

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November 2, 2011 · 8:37 pm

The Median Net Worth Of A Member Of Congress Is Five Times Higher Than The Median American Household

And we wonder why they just don’t get it?

They live in an alternate universe!

These guys and gals live in a little bubble called Washington, DC, sheltered by their wealth, and have no idea how the real world operates…

Nothing will change as long as the Congress is run by the rich for the rich….

 

Part of the reason the richest 1 percent of Americans have captured our politics is because they are able to finance political races, issue campaigns, and lobbyists. But the other reason some of the richest Americans have been able to control our politics is because they themselves have gotten elected to positions of power at a much higher rate than the rest of us.

As Roll Call points out today, the estimated median net worth for a member of Congress in 2010 was $513,000 (this is strictly an estimate as assets are reported in ranges). Meanwhile, the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s David Rosnick points out that the net worth of the median household in the United States that same year was closer to $100,000:

via The Median Net Worth Of A Member Of Congress Is Five Times Higher Than The Median American Household | ThinkProgress.

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November 2, 2011 · 7:57 pm

Who’s Paying for the GOP’s Plan to Hijack the 2012 Election? | Mother Jones

Big money may well be the death of democracy in the U.S…..

Elections can be bought here just like in any third world banana republic…

Mainly thanks to the Roberts Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case, but there are other loopholes that need to be closed…..

And  I have decided it’s time to do away with the Electoral College.  It’s become just another tool for the GOP to manipulate.

Remember Al Gore got more popular votes than George W. Bush.  It was the Electoral College and the Supreme Court that gave us President George W. Bush.

I wonder if it’s not already too late to save popular Democracy in the U.S.A…..

From MotherJones.com:

Over the past six months, someone—or a group of someones—has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund an effort to change the rules of the 2012 presidential election to make it very difficult for President Barack Obama to win reelection. But the shadowy lobbying group mounting this campaign hasn’t disclosed its donors—and under current law, it doesn’t have to.

In two states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, GOP legislators have introduced bills that would change how electoral votes—a candidate needs 270 of the 538 to win the presidency—are awarded in a presidential election. Under the current system, the winner of the statewide popular vote receives all of the electoral votes from that state.

If the Republican plan becomes law in either Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, those states would change how electoral votes are awarded. The new plan would allot electoral votes on the basis of vote totals within congressional districts. If a candidate wins a congressional district, he or she would receive one electoral college vote. Whoever does best in the statewide race would receive two electoral votes.

Because Republicans will draw the boundaries of the congressional districts in both states, the new rules would mean that Obama could win the states but still receive fewer electoral votes than his Republican opponent. Should a Republican split the states’ electoral votes with Obama (even if Obama draws more votes), that could provide the GOPer with the margin of victory in a close race. (Under the US Constitution, it is up to the states to allot electoral votes as they see fit.)

In Pennsylvania, a secretive nonprofit group called All Votes Matter has been pushing the electoral vote scheme since May. All Votes Matter has close ties to the Pennsylvania GOP—it hired a number of former top state Senate staffers-turned-lobbyists. “It was pretty much the Senate GOP All Star Lobbying Team and [former state House Democratic Counsel Bill] Sloane,” Peter DeCoursey, the bureau chief for Capitolwire, a newswire that’s read religiously by Harrisburg insiders*, explained in September.

Between April and June, the group spent $77,700 to lobby state officials to support legislation to implement this scheme. By early September, GOP Gov. Tom Corbett and the state House and Senate leaders, Mike Turzai and Dominic Pileggi, both Republicans, had all expressed their support for the idea. It was “the best $77,700 anyone ever spent on potential legislation,” DeCoursey wrote. “The entire state governing wing [was] for a bill that [hadn’t] been introduced yet.”

A week later, though, the landscape had changed significantly. Mother Jones and other national media outlets drew widespread attention to the story, and the state GOP chairman and the vast majority of its congressional delegation came out against the plan.

via Who’s Paying for the GOP’s Plan to Hijack the 2012 Election? | Mother Jones.

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November 2, 2011 · 7:35 pm

Happy Birthday, KD Lang

She’s probably the greatest vocalist of our generation…

And she’s 50 years old today….

Happy  Birthday, KD!

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October 30, 2011 · 3:03 pm

Outside Groups Eclipsing G.O.P. As Hub of Campaigns – NYTimes.com

More fallout from the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited Corporate money to flow into Campaigns.

Now the Corporations and their billionaire leaders can simply buy candidates and campaigns outright instead of having to use the political parties as a middle man.

And they don’t have to deal with all those messy campaign finance regulations the Political Parties have to deal with…..

Karl Rove and this merry Band of Billionaires are already planning how to put their agenda into play next year.

This is going to be nasty.  It’s going to be a campaign season like we’ve never seen before with all this unlimited Corporate Cash spreading lies, disinformation and propaganda from the Presidential Campaign level (the Koch brothers and their Astroturf candidate Herman Cain) all the way down to the School Board races (See Art Pope in NC).

I’m really not sure our Democracy can survive this…..

I think it may be too late- the Corporate Coup d’etat may have already happened and we are just now realizing it….

From today’s New York Times:

At a time when the Republican National Committee remains weighed down by debt, outside conservative groups, freed from contribution limits by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision last year, are playing an ever larger role and operating in an increasingly coordinated fashion. In the coming months, the conservative groups will consult among themselves as they open pre-election advertising barrages against Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats.

They have begun conversations about how to divide up the swing states where each group is likely to focus its energies, with some like Americans for Prosperity expecting to shift chiefly to Senate races and the White House. Others, like the new Congressional Leadership Fund, will look to preserve the Republican hold on the House.

Groups that have made defeating Mr. Obama their top priority expect to invest heavily in some of the new swing states where Mr. Obama made inroads in 2008, like Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. Other groups, operating in concert, will target Democratic senators they believe are ripe for unseating, like Bill Nelson of Florida, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

At a time when the Republican presidential primary race has featured increasingly tough stances against illegal immigration, the independent groups have begun an aggressive program of outreach to Hispanics, hoping to offset Democratic gains among a critical voting bloc.

And they are planning to coordinate offensives in states like North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where money and organizing could pay dividends simultaneously in the presidential, Congressional and local legislative races.

via Outside Groups Eclipsing G.O.P. As Hub of Campaigns – NYTimes.com.

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October 30, 2011 · 12:55 pm

Happy Birthday, Grace Slick

It’s hard to believe the beautiful lead singer from Jefferson Airplane is 72 years old today.

And that such an icon of the psychedelic ’60’s made it this far…

It’s also fun to look at the pictures and see the young people from the Summer of Love in 1967.

Everything old is new again….

And before you accuse me of being an old hippie, remember:  I went to Washington and Lee University and shop at Brooks Brothers.

Which says everything and proves nothing…

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