Monthly Archives: February 2008

Where’s the beef?

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Oh wait, it’s being recalled.

The USDA is recalling 143 million pounds of ground beef from Chino-based Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. Why?

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer said his department has evidence that Westland did not routinely contact its veterinarian when cattle became non-ambulatory after passing inspection, violating health regulations.

"Because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection, Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined them to be unfit for human food and the company is conducting a recall," Schafer said in a statement.

A phone message left for Westland president Steve Mendell was not immediately returned.

Federal officials suspended operations at Westland/Hallmark after an undercover Humane Society video surfaced showing crippled and sick animals being shoved with forklifts.

Now I understand that this is because we don’t want to eat tainted beef (for those of you that eat beef that it), but I like how hypocritical it is to call it “abuse” when we are about to slaughter the animals for consumption.

Neglect? Maybe. But abuse? Not so much. Instead of the entire company going down, which might lead to further scrutiny of the industry, a few poor saps are going to be made into scapegoats for the company. It’s nothing new, this type of story has been played out hundred times and it will be played out a hundred more.

Here’s a tip to avoid getting tainted beef. Don’t eat beef.

Sunday talk linueup; McCain, Schumer, McConnell

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Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
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ABC’s “This Week” — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
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CBS’ “Face the Nation” — David Axelrod, strategist for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign; Howard Wolfson, communications director for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign; Richmond Mayor and former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder; Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
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NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
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CNN’s “Late Edition” — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; former presidential candidate Bill Bradley.
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“Fox News Sunday” — Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence; Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle; Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.

That was fast, part II

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Orlando Sentinel publisher resigns

Orlando Sentinel Publisher Kathleen Waltz resigned today, ending a 34-year career with the newspaper's parent company, Chicago-based Tribune Co.

Howard Greenberg, publisher of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, replaces Waltz, becoming interim publisher and chief executive officer of the Sentinel until a permanent Sentinel publisher is named.

Waltz said that she left after discussing ways to manage Tribune's T-6 newspapers, the name the company uses to denote its six smaller market papers, which include the two Florida publications and four others in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

Previously, half those papers reported to the Tribune Co.'s corporate structure through Bob Gremillion, the executive vice president of Tribune Publishing, and half, including the Sentinel, through Waltz first, and then through Gremillion. Under the new structure all will report directly through Gremillion.

Well, this just gets more and more interesting every day.

Chicago, Baltimore, and Hartford Papers Detail Tribune Cuts to Local Staffers

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Gulp.

From Editor & Publisher:

Soon after Tribune Company's announcement today that it would slash up to 500 jobs companywide, employees at several of the chain's newspapers received details of job-cutting plans through a series of memos detailing the bad news.

The memos were first posted on the Poynter.org Romenesko Web site.

At the Hartford Courant, workers were told that "advertising revenue is currently down 14% from last year, losses are across the board with the greatest declines in our national and classified businesses. Our Advertising department is doing everything they can to turn this situation around."

| MORE |

Hmm, this may throw a wrench in my plans. But then again, probably not, us online people have an advantage. We’re the wave of the future!

Army buries study critical of Iraq War

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An article in The New York Times today reported on a report that was buried by the Army because it was too critical of the war. Shocked? Yeah, me too.

Here’s the gist. The Army had the RAND Corporation, a federally-funded (meaning your tax dollars somewhere along the line) global policy think tank that analyzes and reports on public policy, among other things, prepare a report on rebuilding Iraq and the lessons learned from the war.

So they did, in spades.

RAND produced a seven-volume report that criticized nearly every aspect of how the war has been conducted. From George Bush at the top to the generals in the trenches carrying out the war, they left no one out.

The Army didn’t like this very much, so they buried it.

Again, I’m shocked. Aren’t you.

G.I planted evidence on slain Iraqi

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A disturbing article from the NY Times yesterday reported on the conviction of Sgt. Evan Vela, an Army sniper that killed an unarmed Iraqi and planted an AK-47 on him.

A top Army sniper testified Friday in a military court that he had ordered a subordinate to kill an unarmed Iraqi man who wandered into their hiding position near Iskandariya, then planted an AK-47 rifle near the body to support his false report about the shooting.

Under a grant of immunity, the sniper, Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, an expert marksman and sniper trainer, testified in the court-martial of Sgt. Evan Vela. Sergeant Vela is accused of murder, impeding a military investigation and planting evidence to cover up an unjust shooting. An earlier charge of premeditated murder was dropped.

Sergeant Vela is the third soldier to be charged in the death of the Iraqi, Genei Nesir Khudair al-Janabi, last May. Sergeant Hensley and another soldier, Specialist Jorge G. Sandoval Jr., were acquitted of murder charges last year, but were convicted of planting evidence. As part of his sentence, Sergeant Hensley was demoted from staff sergeant.

More disturbing I think is that this sounds like it happens often enough that soldiers “often carried incriminating items to plant on Iraqis as ‘insurance,’.”

Woo! Mission Accomplished indeed.

Best movie summary ever

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From the Wikipedia entry for Joel and Ethan Coen’s Burn After Reading:

Burn After Reading is an upcoming film, set for release in 2008, starring John Malkovich, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, and Brad Pitt and made by Joel and Ethan Coen. According to the Coens the plot will focus on the world of the CIA, physical fitness in Washington, D.C., and internet dating.

Consider me sold.

GoObama!

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Obama wins Nebraska and Washington

Mr. Obama received nearly 70 percent support in Nebraska, compared with 31 percent for Mrs. Clinton. He also had 67 percent support in Washington state caucuses, compared with 32 percent for Mrs. Clinton with returns tallied from about one-half of the state’s precincts. There were 78 delegates at stake, the largest single prize of the night. The two were also matched up in a primary in Louisiana and caucuses in the Virgin Islands.

With the Democratic contest so close, excitement ran high, as did turnout. In Nebraska, the Web site of the Omaha World-Herald reported that organizers at two caucus sites were so overrun by crowds that they abandoned traditional caucusing and asked voters to drop makeshift scrap-paper ballots into a box instead. Traffic backed up on Highway 370 in Sarpy County, south of Omaha, when thousands of voters showed up at a precinct where organizers had planned for hundreds.

Again, I believe a w00t is in order. I bet Hillary is getting scared now.