Archives for April 2007

On April 10, after failing to get ahold of anybody who could answer my questions by phone, I sent the following email to a number of contacts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:

Do you have any information regarding the report in the Marin Independent Journal that three varieties of Nutro Max cat food, not currently on the recall list, have tested positive for melamine by an independent lab?

http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_5630208

Is the FDA aware of this information, is further testing being performed, and do you expect the recall to expand? Does this suggest that the universe of recalled food will be expanded beyond these additional Nutro varieties?

And yesterday, April 16, I finally received the following succinct reply:

We do not have this information at this time.
**************************************
Veronica Castro
Office of Public Affairs
FDA

Um… which is curious, because only hours after I sent my query, the FDA issued a press release expanding the recall to include the Nutro Max varieties and other products. Hmm. Yet six days after recalling the products in question, the Office of Public Affairs still tells me that “we do not have this information at this time.”

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

I once mocked former FEMA director Mike Brown for suggesting that his agency’s catastrophic failure in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was largely, well, my fault. “In the middle of trying to respond to that,” Brown complained during Congressional testimony on the massive hurricane, “FEMA’s press office became bombarded with requests to respond immediately to false statements about my resume and my background.”

As if the most critical element of any disaster relief effort comes from the press office.

But all snark aside, the press office does play an important role in crisis management, by getting accurate information out through the media and to the public — information that can save lives. And throughout this entire pet food recall the FDA and the pet food industry have repeatedly failed to adequately perform this crucial function.

It was on March 2 that Menu Foods learned that the first of its test animals had died. By March 8, Menu Foods, ChemNutra and the FDA knew that imported wheat gluten was the culprit, knew the name of the Chinese manufacturer printed on the side of the 25 kg sacks, and knew that the gluten was imported and distributed as human food grade. The initial recall wasn’t issued until March 17, and the name of the Chinese manufacturer wasn’t revealed until March 30, prompting three more pet food companies to issue recalls within hours. On April 3, 26 days after first being notified that its gluten was killing animals, ChemNutra finally issued a nationwide recall.

Throughout this unfolding crisis, consumers were consistently reassured that the remaining pet food supply was safe, even as the recall expanded day by day. So I guess it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise when the FDA’s own Public Affairs Office claims to be totally unaware of a week-old recall.

This scandal will surely prompt Congressional hearings focusing on the safety of the food supply, but the FDA’s failure to provide the public with accurate, timely information is as inexcusable as its failure to adequately safeguard our food. We not only have the right to know what the FDA knows — and when they know it — we have the need. For when it comes to both our pets and ourselves, it is far better to avoid products out of unconfirmed fear, than it is to consume unsafe products out of ignorance.

The FDA and the pet food industry had an obligation to inform the public. They failed.

Looks like former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson has just become the undisputed GOP presidential frontrunner:

WASHINGTON – Former Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson told Jewish activists Monday that making money is “part of the Jewish tradition,” and something that he applauded.

Speaking to an audience at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington D.C., Thompson said that, “I’m in the private sector and for the first time in my life I’m earning money. You know that’s sort of part of the Jewish tradition and I do not find anything wrong with that.”

Thompson later apologized for the comments that had caused a stir in the audience, saying that he had meant it as a compliment, and had only wanted to highlight the “accomplishments” of the Jewish religion.

[…] “What I was referring to, ladies and gentlemen, is the accomplishments of the Jewish religion. You’ve been outstanding business people and I compliment you for that.”

Gee. Um… thanks. I think.

Atrios follows Thompson’s lead:

I would like to compliment my African-American readers on their dancing abilities and athletic prowess, my Asian-American readers on their studiousness, and of course my female readers for their excellence in homemaking.

…almost forgot to congratulate my white male readers for their astounding successes in the face of unprecedented oppression.

At least 33 people were killed and 30 injured in the tragic shooting rampage this morning at Virginia Polytechnic and State University, but don’t you worry, the White House made very clear today that “the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms.”

Phew!

Meanwhile, in other news:

• 04/15/07 Reuters: 19 bodies found in Baghdad on Saturday
• 04/15/07 Reuters: 20 Iraqi troops and policemen abducted
• 04/15/07 Reuters: 4 killed by suicide bombers in Mosul
• 04/15/07 AP: Suicide bomber kills 5, wounds 11 in northwest Baghdad
• 04/15/07 AP: 37 die as car bomb hits near Iraq shrine

I’m just sayin’.

UPDATE:
Unsurprisingly, Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit blames the victims:

These things do seem to take place in locations where it’s not legal for people with carry permits to carry guns, though, and I believe that’s the case where the Virginia Tech campus is concerned. I certainly wish that someone had been in a position to shoot this guy at the outset.

That’s right, if only the victims themselves had been armed, none of this would have happened. Ah well, in that case, I guess they got what they deserved.

The Times and the P-I have settled their Joint Operating Agreement dispute. Eli Sanders has the scoop over on Slog:

Under the terms of the agreement, announced this morning, the Seattle Times Company will pay $49 million to the Hearst Corporation in order to end Hearst’s right to collect a percentage of Seattle Times revenues in the event that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer closes.

Hearst will pay $25 million to the Times Co. to guarantee that the Times Co. will not try to end their Joint Operating Agreement due to lost revenue, at least until 2016.

That means two daily newspapers will continue to publish in Seattle, for now. At first glance, it also means that Hearst has lost one of its incentives to close the P-I (the guaranteed Times revenue) while the Times Co. has lost one its easy ways to slip out of the JOA (claiming the JOA needs to be ended because the Times is losing revenue under the arrangement) until 2016.

This is great news for Seattle. Slog also has the text of a letter from Frank Blethen to employees.

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO:

7PM: Is our pet food safe to eat? Hell, is our people food safe to eat?
Ben Huh from Itchmo.com joins me for an update on our nation’s biggest pet food recall, and what it means for the safety of the human food supply?

8PM: Are kids having sex to young?
A new study shows abstinence only sex education doesn’t work, but even more shockingly, that the average age at which kids first have sex is on 14.9 years! Is that too young? Or was I just a really boring and uptight teenager?

9PM: Don Imus: racist or sexist?
Fellow blogger Natasha Celine from Pacific Views joins me for the hour to talk about Don Imus and other issues.

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

Today is Goldy’s birthday!

That makes it a good day to raise a toast to Goldy for his political activism—for using his sense of humor, writing skills, and his ability to engage in thoughtful and intelligent debate, to change the world for the better. I suppose there are others who will see it differently—who see Goldy as a foul-mouthed, treasonous, political hit-man, who probably organizes and practices election fraud while being paid by the Democrats. Whatever.

You are reading this. You probably came here hoping Goldy left something to entertain, inspire, educate, or outrage you. So take a moment to leave a comment for the birthday boy.

And, while you’re at it, today is an excellent day to buy Goldy a birthday beer. (It’s easy using the tools on the right sidebar.)

Tonight on “The David Goldstein Show”, 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO:

7PM: Rail or Roads?
Joel Connelly joins me for the hour to discuss our region’s transportation planning (or as some might say, the lack thereof.) A recent poll shows 61-percent of voters support the $17.5 billion Sound Transit/RTID “Roads & Transit” package scheduled to be on the ballot this November, and I’m going to look Joel in the eye and make him like it too.

8PM: Is Karl Rove liability?
I mean, to the Bush administration. (He’s always been a liability to the American people.)

9PM: What’s goin’ down in Oregon?
TJ from Loaded Orygun joins us for our monthly update on what’s going on south of the border.

Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).

Over on Slog, Josh Feit picks up on my post about a recent poll that showed substantial support for the Sound Transit/RTID $16.5 billion Roads & Transit package.

The numbers, about 61% in favor after a dose of messaging, are pretty positive, and so Goldy seems to be saying, everybody should stop complaining and fretting about a joint measure.

Hmm. I don’t think I seemed to be saying that, but Josh is a pretty good editor, so maybe I’m wrong. I thought I was only blowing holes in the common wisdom that the Roads & Transit package was politically DOA.

Like Josh, I’d prefer to see the transit components separated from the roads components so that I could vote for the former while douching the latter, but given political realities I’m not willing to scuttle transit improvements simply because I don’t like much of the roads package. On the other hand, Josh seems to be saying that the package is fatally flawed, whatever its current support at the polls:

Goldy’s contention that polling looks good doesn’t address my biggest fear—in fact, it confirms it: It’s going to pass, and we’re going to undo the benefits of voting for transit by simultaneously voting to expand roads.

Indeed, here’s the polling I’d like to see: light rail on its own and RTID on its own. I’d bet light rail would pass and RTID wouldn’t.

Well Josh, I’m not sure it provides much consolation, but the survey did indeed poll the individual components of the combined package, and for the most part, transit consistently out-polled roads. In fact, here are the top scoring components within the Sound Transit District:

Disagree with my analysis? Read the full poll results and topline summary for yourself. (Oh, and as it turns out, if you read the poll results from 2005 and 2006, voters have been pretty damn consistent.)

UPDATE (FYI):
The survey was conducted on behalf of Sound Transit to help evaluate the 8000 public comments generated through their public involvement process, and is intended to aid the Sound Transit Board’s deliberations as they finalize details of the Sound Transit 2 package. The survey was designed under a partnership with Evans McDonough and Moore Information, and with input from RTID consultants. Moore fielded the survey to 800 respondents within the Sound Transit district, which gives the survey a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

The King County Republican Party celebrates the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination tonight with their annual Lincoln Day John Wilkes Booth Day Dinner. And who better to deliver the keynote address, than the GOP’s most ruthless character assassin, Karl Rove.

The reception with Rove starts at 5:30 PM, but the King County Dems are organizing a welcome party of their own at 4:30 PM, outside the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center, 17620 International Blvd. in Seatac. Bring a sign and a loud voice, and help us give Rove a big, WTO-style* Seattle welcome.

* NOTE:
Carla over at Loaded Orygun makes note of yet another dishonest righty accusing me of “inciting violence” with my “WTO-style” reference. Yeah. Right.

Anybody who took part in the WTO protests knows that they were largely peaceful, orderly, and well organized. The violence was incited by a handful of self-described “anarchists” and facilitated by a stunningly incompetent reaction by the Seattle police, who at first refused to step in and stop the anarchists, and then later overreacted by tear-gassing and arresting peaceful protestors and innocent bystanders.

Righties like Ted and the Orb should understand that words do indeed have consequences. Continue to convince your paranoid readers that unarmed liberals like me are seeking to incite violence, and eventually some nutcase might try to take us out preemptively.

It virtually (in the neologistic sense of the word) sinks.

Washington State Department of Transportation has the videos:

I have a dirty little secret that likely disgusts the Seattle Times editorial board as much as it nauseates me: I sometimes agree with them.

Take today’s editorial in support of newly appointed Seattle School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, simply titled “Give the supe a chance.”

Absolutely. I couldn’t agree more.

Though, if we really want to give Goodloe-Johnson every chance to succeed, we need to give her the tools to succeed as well, and that means giving her (and every school superintendent) adequate funding to teach our children.

How much extra money are we talking about? PTSAs at some of the most sought after public schools within Seattle and its surrounding suburbs raise about $1000 per student to pay for essentials like smaller class size, classroom assistants, art, music, PE, tutoring and other enrichment programs. And rarely do they raise much more than that, no matter how well-heeled the parents. It seems to me that the market has spoken — our wealthiest and most demanding consumers of public education have determined that we’re spending about $1000 less per student than necessary. Don’t all public school children deserve the same opportunity as theirs?

$1000 per student. About a billion dollars more a year. Roughly a 10-percent increase in state K-12 education spending. A thousand bucks extra per student plugged straight into the classroom, where each school can determine how to spend that money best. Just the way it works at the public schools in our wealthiest neighborhoods.

And so I am asking the Times to join me in leveraging what influence we have, to give Goodloe-Johnson the one tool she can’t possibly bring to her new job: adequate funding. Public opinion and politicians are influenced by editorials — the Times knows this — thus if the editors at our state’s largest newspaper truly want to give Goodloe-Johnson the chance to succeed, it is incumbent upon them to use the full force of their soapbox to relentlessly persuade the Legislature to fulfill its paramount duty to the children of our state.

No, money isn’t the only solution, but it is certainly part of it. And perhaps if the Times had devoted as much talent and energy to increasing spending on education as it has devoted to cutting taxes on millionaires, Goodloe-Johnson’s challenge wouldn’t be as daunting as it now seems.

Oops…

A lawyer for the Republican National Committee told congressional staff members yesterday that the RNC is missing at least four years’ worth of e-mail from White House senior adviser Karl Rove that is being sought as part of investigations into the Bush administration, according to the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

[…] In a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, Waxman said the RNC lawyer, Rob Kelner, also raised the possibility that Rove had personally deleted the missing e-mails, all dating back to before 2005.

But… well… I guess all this is okay, because, you know… Bill Clinton lied about a blowjob.

Washington isn’t a state with a reputation for achieving consensus, but if there’s one thing on which nearly all the political insiders agree, it’s that the $16.5 billion Sound Transit/RTID Roads & Transit package that’s headed to the ballot this coming November is as good as dead.

I’ve heard it from Democrats and Republicans, from liberals and conservatives, from package supporters and package opponents. I’ve heard it from politicians I trust, and from politicians I emphatically don’t trust. And everybody agrees that the package is just too big and too expensive for our skeptical electorate to approve at the polls.

But… um… I guess I should’ve asked some actual voters, because a new poll shows quite solid support for the package, both before and after respondents are informed of the details.

61% of respondents supported the package when presented on an “uninformed basis” with no persuasive messaging:

“A transportation package has been proposed that would increase the sales tax by 6/10 of 1%, and the car license tab by 8/10 of 1%. It would fund $16.5 Billion dollars in road, highway, and mass transit improvements in Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties”.

When respondents were informed of the package’s costs, but not its elements, support dropped to 49%:

“This package will cost the typical household $150 in additional sales tax each year, plus $80 in license tab tax for every $10,000 of your car’s value.”

Not surprising. But then once voters are informed of the major components of the package, support rebounds to 63%, and remains at this level after positive (66%) and then negative (61%) messaging is presented. (FYI, the poll was conducted by Moore Information and EMC Research, April 1-4, and consisted of 800 registered voters with a 3.5 percent margin of error.)

The imminent, inevitable failure of the Roads & Transit package has become a rallying cry for supporters of creating a new regional transportation commission. “We’ve got to do something to restore the confidence of voters,” I’ve been told on more than one occasion. But if these poll numbers are even remotely accurate, it looks like a substantial majority of voters are confident enough in our current transportation planning to spend $16.5 billion expanding light rail and making other critical transportation improvements.

So much for the common wisdom.

Hmm.

I am NOT Huan Hsu’s co-worker. I’m his BOSS. Another reason why he has my sympathy.

Posted today at 5:30 pm by Mark Fefer

From the Seattle Times:

The Summit at Snoqualmie, a family-oriented ski resort where many of Seattle’s skiers got their start, has been quietly bought by a Florida real-estate investment trust.

CNL Income Properties paid almost $35 million in January for The Summit, as part of a $170 million deal for four ski properties.

Olympia sources tell me that CNL has privately threatened to move The Summit to Orlando unless WA state legislators authorize funds to build it a new mountain.