HorsesAss.Org

A full two months after its first test animal died from eating melamine tainted pet food, Menu Foods expands its recall yet again. Back on March 16, Menu Foods President and CEO Paul K. Henderson wrote:

“We take these complaints very seriously and, while we are still looking for a specific cause, we are acting to err on the side of caution. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure that our products maintain the very highest quality standards.”

On March 30:

“Our products are safe. We continue to engage in the highest levels of monitoring and testing in the pet food industry.”

Menu Foods has expanded its recall five times since making that statement. And you wonder why I no longer accept reassurances from industry and regulators as to the safety of our food supply?

An old pipe just up and broke this morning near the University Bridge. It just broke. Nobody hit it with a machine or anything. It just broke.

Joel Connelly is peeved that Democrats aren’t bellying-up to the crapshoot that is primary election politics:

State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz dismisses Feb. 5 as “stupid Tuesday.” With big states holding primaries that day, he argues, nobody would come to the Evergreen State.

Pelz’s arguments are incorrect and self-serving.

In 2000, Washington had a presidential primary that counted. A total of 1.3 million people voted in it — versus the estimated 60,000 Democrats who turned out for caucuses in 2004.

In 2000, Washington killed the Bradley campaign and didn’t do much for McCain either. While I’d love to see Washingotn hold a primary that matters, it isn’t happening until Iowa and New Hampshire are wrested of their control over the nominating process. And it’s worth noting that Washington didn’t share it’s primary date with lots of other states that year.

Pike Place Market needs some serious TLC. While it seems like Nickels wants a property tax to pay for the improvements, why not tax the cruiseship tourists who cram into the place on the weekends? If we’re marketing Pike Place to folks across the country (and world), then they should help pay too.

Somebody has got to tell the no-growthers (like Skip) that adding housing supply has a measurable effect on housing prices. Somebody, please.

Why does my favorite Seattle Times editorial columnist have to be the conservative guy? Why oh why?

While I’m a firm believer that the key to establishing and maintaining a progressive majority is to elect progressives to those very local offices that comprise the heart of grassroots politics, outside of Seattle, I don’t cover these sort of races — council, school board, commissioner, etc. — nearly often enough. Unless there’s some sort of scandal or boneheaded blunder to make fun of, I’m at least as guilty as my friends in the local legacy media of allowing very local politics to fly way too far below our radar.

But occasionally a curious piece of local politicking catches my attention, such as the press release sent my way from first-time candidate Maureen Judge announcing she’s earned the endorsements of the entire 41st Legislative District delegation in her race for Mercer Island City Council, Position 3. That includes not only Democrats, Sen. Brian Weinstein and Rep. Judy Clibborn, but Republican Rep. Fred Jarrett. Now I don’t know much about Mercer Island politics, but I’m guessing this kind of broad bipartisan support, combined with the $8,000 she’s already raised in her first month of campaigning, might scare off additional challengers.

That said, in the interest of full disclosure, I should also mention that I do know a few things about the candidate. Okay… I happen to know Maureen pretty damn well. Um… she’s my baby’s momma.

(In case you’re wondering, Katie has my eyes. And my sick sense of humor.)

And while I suppose this sort of disclosure might raise red flags amongst Mercer Island Republicans, they should at least take comfort in the fact that Maureen had the apparent commonsense to divorce me. Can’t get much more bipartisan than that.

So for what it’s worth, “Mo” has my full support. Send her money. And if you live on the Island, send her your endorsement.

As for her opponents, well, they have my sympathy. Mo has already proven to be an energetic and effective campaigner, and damn, she’s a helluva lot more likeable than I am. Go ahead, try to beat her at something she really cares about. Hell, I never did.

The Seattle chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight (and every Tuesday), 8PM at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E.

Come join us for some hopped up conversation and hoppy beer.

Not in Seattle? Liberals will also be drinking tonight in the Tri-Cities. A full listing of Washington’s eleven Drinking Liberally chapters is available here.

In a conference call with media this afternoon, USDA Assistant Administrator Kenneth Petersen revealed that as many as 3 million chickens, contaminated with melamine from a single Indiana feed mill, have already been slaughtered, distributed and eaten. An additional 100,000 breeder chickens are currently being voluntarily quarantined by farmers.

These 3.1 million chickens represent only those that fed on a single batch of feed made from melamine-tainted pet food “salvaged” in February. Petersen told reporters that the “investigation will lead to additional farms.”

Right about now, John Edwards is standing in a Boeing union hall answering the questions of labor families on all sorts of labor matters. If you got the chance to ask Senator Edwards a question, let us know. What was your question? What was his answer? Did you get a good answer?

Email Goldy or myself and we’ll put your exchange on the blog.

A gigantic tanker blew up on a San Fransisco area freeway interchange the other day. Gridlock was predicted for Monday’s commute. But…

It didn’t happen.

I’ll let Dan Savage explain:

How was the disaster averted? Mass transit got a boost—more trains were running, more ferries crisscrossed San Francisco Bay, and some folks opted to telecommute. Now the same people that predicted disaster today are warning us that the disaster—the chaos! oh, the humanity!—will surely come tomorrow. Or Wednesday. Or Thursday. It’s likelier, however, that disaster won’t come because drivers will do what drivers do only when they must: adjust. Find other ways around, switch to mass transit, telecommute, ride a ferry.

But once again freeway addicts deprived of a freeway predicted disaster and disaster failed to materialize.

Tear down the viaduct now.

While I’m not quite ready to tear down the viaduct, Dan has a point. We are often convinced we need the things we have, only to realize that, perhaps, we can live without them. I’m certain the destroyed section of freeway will be repaired, but it goes to show you just how flexible commuters can be if they have options.

NOTE BY GOLDY:
How naive can you be Will? Don’t you know that Seattle is different, and that transit can’t possibly work here? And while other major cities have torn down waterfront freeways, and commuters have managed to adapt, don’t you understand that this just won’t work in Seattle, because… well… um… it just won’t?

Once again, the FDA downplays the ever expanding food safety crisis:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2007

Joint Update: FDA/USDA Update on Tainted Soylent Green

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continue their investigation of Soylent Green, which has been found to contain people and people-related compounds. Based on information currently available, FDA and USDA believe the likelihood of illness after eating Soylent Green would be very low. The agencies are taking certain actions out of an abundance of caution. As announced on April 26, Soylent Green known to have been adulterated (ie, contaminated with adults) will not be approved to enter the food supply.

As reported on April 22 by FDA, the Agency determined that plankton protein concentrate imported from China was contaminated with people and people-related compounds. As part of the ongoing investigation, FDA has determined the plankton protein was used in the production of Soylent Green.

At this time, we have no evidence of harm to humans associated with the Soylent Green, and therefore no recall of the product is being issued. Testing and the joint investigation continue. If any evidence surfaces to indicate there is harm to humans, the appropriate action will be taken.

The assessment that, if there were to be harm to human health, it would be very low, is based on a number of factors, including the dilution of the contaminating people and people-related compounds from the original plankton protein concentrate as it moves through the food system. First, people are only a partial ingredient in plankton protein concentrate; second, plankton protein concentrate is only a partial ingredient in Soylent Green; third, even if people are present in Soylent Green, Soylent Green is only a small part of the average American diet, which typically also includes Soylent Yellow and Soylent Red. In addition to the dilutional factor, neither FDA nor USDA are aware of any human illness that has occurred from exposure to people or its by-products. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention systems have limited ability to detect subtle problems due to ingestion of people and people-related compounds, the public should rest assured that no problems have been detected to date. To further evaluate any potential harm to humans, the FDA is developing and implementing further tests and risk assessments based on the toxicity of people, and how much people people could be expected to actually consume.

USDA and FDA continue to conduct a full, comprehensive examination to protect the nation’s food supply and will provide updates as new information is confirmed.

####

And if you think that’s absurd, just read this.

Last Saturday (April 28th) was a day filled with pro-impeachment events in over 125 locations in the U.S., and even a few locations overseas. The nationwide impeachment protests were organized by A28.org, and consisted of many types of public display of free speech. Here is an example from Madison Park in Seattle:

One of my favorite forms of this type of exercise in free speech is the posting of signs along the freeway. And the foremost proponent of this technique is Scarlet, a.k.a. The FreewayBlogger, who has personally posted over 4,000 such signs. (I believe it was Scarlet who first used the word “Chimpeachment.”)

Here is FreewayBlogger’s collection of freeway blogging from the April 28th Impeachment Event.

Locally, the Backbone Campaign has been busy placarding in Seattle for some time. They’ve recently had a showdown with the police, but it appears that the police backed down. I’ve not heard of any police-related incidences from this weekend.

The fact is, this is generally considered free speech protected by the first amendment. But, state and local laws may restrict where signs can be placed. Here’s an easy way to find out what is legal in your area:

It is your right as a citizen to display non-commercial signs and banners, with some exceptions. Rules regarding signposting along roadways vary from state to state, and locality to locality. So, call your local department of transportation to find out more. Ask for public relations and say you’d like to put up some American flags and “Support the Troops” signs… they will likely be more than helpful. Don’t feel bad if that’s not precisely what you intend to put up: this is America, and the rules apply equally to all points of view.

And Scarlet offers these defiant words of inspiration:

It is our contention that the town square of colonial times has now become the interstate: for better or for worse, that’s where all the people are. With this in mind, we feel it is our God-given and constitutionally-granted right to post our messages on the interstates, freeways, or wherever-the-hell-else-we-think-people-will-read-them and we’re willing to fight for this right all the way to the Supreme Court.

But you’ll have to catch us first.

Interested in doing you own freeway blogging? As can be seen in his video the making of signs is extremely easy. For about a buck per sign, you too can reach 100,000 readers a day!

The really fun part comes after you make the signs. “Picking locations for signs is something of a chess game,” Freeway Blogger told me last July when he showed up at the Seattle gathering of Drinking Liberally. I’ve been saving large pieces of cardboard ever since….

Gov. Bill Richardson uses GOP-style talking points to attack another Democrat:

“Democrats, whenever we have a solution, we want to tax,” Richardson said. “I’m different. I’m a tax cutter.”

Curious. I know Democrats are sometime pegged as the tax-and-spend party, but I find it odd that a Democrat, running for president, would so willingly adopt the language of the opposition. Why Richardson would be proud of cutting taxes in a state that recieves more federal taxes than it sends to Washington D.C., strikes me as odd. If any primary voter was really concerned about cutting taxes, they’d probably be on the other team.

The Seattle Times editorial board and I completely agree on Internet radio. Don’t get scared… things like this happen.

And in somewhat tangentially related news, publishers of our city’s two dailies are popping champagne corks this morning: “Seattle newspapers’ circulation dip smaller than in years past.” Though…

The new numbers indicate the declines at The Seattle Times and P-I would have been steeper but for increased sales of deeply discounted papers.

Um… how do you “deeply discount” something that costs 50-cents?

The Shandong Mingshui Great Chemical factory in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, which manufactures urea, melamine and melamine scrap. (Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times)

Who knows what kind of shit is adulterating our imported and domestic food supply? But whatever it is, it’s about to hit the fan.

Months after dogs and cats started dropping dead of renal failure from melamine-tainted pet food, American consumers are beginning to learn how long and how wide this contaminant has also poisoned the human food supply. Last week, as California officials revealed that at least 45 people are known to have eaten tainted pork, the USDA announced that it would pay farmers millions of dollars to destroy and dispose of thousands of hogs fed “salvaged” pet food.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Through the salvaging practice, melamine-tainted pet food has likely contaminated America’s livestock for as long as it has been killing and sickening America’s pets — as far back as August of 2006, or even earlier. And while it may seem alarmist to suggest without absolute proof that Americans have been eating melamine-tainted pork, chicken and farm-raised fish for the better part of a year, the FDA and USDA seem to be preparing to brace Americans for the worst. In an unusual, Saturday afternoon joint press release, the regulators tasked with protecting the safety of our nation’s food supply go to convoluted lengths to reassure the public that eating melamine-tainted pork is perfectly safe.

In a fit of reverse-homeopathy the press release steps us through the dilution process, tracing the path of melamine-tainted rice protein through the food system. The rice protein is a partial ingredient in pet food, we are told, which is itself only a partial ingredient in the feed given to hogs, who then “excrete” some of the melamine in their urine. And, “even if present in pork,” they reassure us, “pork is only a small part of the average American diet.”

How comforting. But the press release reaches its Orwellian best in its insistence that there is no evidence of any “human illness” due to melamine exposure:

“While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention systems would have limited ability to detect subtle problems due to melamine and melamine-related compounds, no problems have been detected to date.”

Translation: “We are unable to detect such problems, but don’t worry, no such problems have been detected.”

It is hard to read this as anything but a preemptive press release, a calculated effort to reassure the public that it is safe to eat trace quantities of melamine… just days before they inevitably reveal that Americans have in fact been consuming it unawares for months. Menu Foods, the company at the center of the controversy, has recalled product dating back to November 8, 2006. Manufacturing forty to fifty percent of America’s wet pet food, the salvaged product from their massive operations must have surely contaminated livestock feed nationwide.

And it gets worse. Tomorrow the New York Times will report from China, detailing how nitrogen-rich melamine scrap, produced from coal, is routinely ground into powder and mixed into low-grade wheat, corn, soybean or other proteins to inflate the protein analysis of animal feed:

The melamine powder has been dubbed “fake protein” and is used to deceive those who raise animals into thinking they are buying feed that provides higher nutrition value.

“It just saves money,” says a manager at an animal feed factory here. “Melamine scrap is added to animal feed to boost the protein level.”

The practice is widespread in China. For years animal feed sellers have been able to cheat buyers by blending the powder into feed with little regulatory supervision, according to interviews with melamine scrap traders and agricultural workers here.

[…] Many animal feed operators advertise on the Internet seeking to purchase melamine scrap. And melamine scrap producers and traders said in recent interviews that they often sell to animal feed makers.

“Many companies buy melamine scrap to make animal feed, such as fish feed,” says Ji Denghui, general manager of the Fujian Sanming Dinghui Chemical Company. “I don’t know if there’s a regulation on it. Probably not. No law or regulation says ‘don’t do it,’ so everyone’s doing it. The laws in China are like that, aren’t they? If there’s no accident, there won’t be any regulation.”

“The practice is widespread in China,” the Times reports, and has been going on “for years.” And it is not just wheat, corn, rice and soybean proteins that should be suspect, but the animals who feed on it, including all imported Chinese pork, poultry, farm-raised fish, and their various by-products. Despite FDA and USDA efforts to allay concerns about consuming melamine-tainted meat, the health effects are unstudied, and the permissible level is zero. If China could impose a three-year (and counting) ban on the import of U.S. beef after a single incident of Mad Cow disease, then surely the U.S. would be justified in imposing a ban on Chinese vegetable protein and livestock products due to such a prevalent, industrywide contamination.

And if in the coming weeks this ban is finally imposed, the question we must ask government regulators is… why so late? Why did they wait until our children licked the last remaining drop of bacon fat off their fingers before alerting the public to the potential health risk, however low? It seems inconceivable that the regulators tasked with overseeing the safety and purity of our nation’s food supply did not at least imagine the potential scope of this crisis back in early March when they first learned that Chinese wheat gluten was poisoning dogs and cats. Indeed, the very fact that they were so quick to focus in on melamine as the adulterating agent suggests they at least suspected what they were facing.

It may make for entertaining TV, but popular shows like CSI get forensic toxicology exactly backwards. You don’t run a substance through a mass spectrometer and 30 seconds later get a complete readout of its chemical makeup. Rather, you painstakingly look for specific chemicals or groups of chemicals one at a time, until you find the offending toxin. Once you get beyond the basic “tox screen,” forensics is as much art as science — investigators use evidence and intuition to narrow the search to those compounds that are most likely to be the culprit.

And so it begs the question as to why — in the face of an apparent wheat gluten contamination that reportedly killed nine out of twenty dogs and cats in Menu Foods’ quarterly taste test — would FDA scientists test for melamine, a chemical widely believed to be nontoxic?

Why? Because they thought they might find it.

Lacking adequate cooperation from FDA officials one is constantly forced to speculate, but given the circumstances it is reasonable to assume that the search for melamine was prompted by the “nitrogen spiking” theory, rather than the other way around. Based on their knowledge of the evidence, Chinese agricultural practices, the globalizing food industry, and perhaps prior history, the FDA hypothesized that unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers may have intentionally adulterated low quality wheat gluten in an effort to pass it off as a high-protein, high-value product. And nothing would do the job better than melamine.

According to one synthetic organic chemist, melamine is by far the perfect candidate. It is high in nitrogen (66-percent by weight), nonvolatile (ie, it doesn’t explode,) and dirt cheap. It is also — at least according to both the scientific literature and chemical supply catalogs — widely considered to be nontoxic. For FDA officials, the mystery never seemed to be how melamine made its way into wheat, rice and corn protein, but rather, why it was suddenly killing dogs and cats.

The technical answer may center on the unexpected interaction between melamine, cyanuric acid, and other melamine by-products, but the practical answer may be much more pedestrian. Some samples of adulterated wheat gluten reportedly tested as high as 6.6-percent melamine by weight, an off the chart concentration that was likely the accidental result of some less than thorough mixing. Had this accident never occurred — had cats, with their sensitive renal systems, not been the canary in the coal mine of melamine toxicity — we might never have known that our children and our pets were being slowly poisoned by Chinese capitalism.

Well, despite the FDA’s best efforts, now we know.

NOTE:
The New York Times article referenced above originally appeared in the online edition of the the International Herald Tribune. It has since been pulled.

UPDATE:
The NY Times piece is now online.

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

7PM: Q&A with Jay
Rep. Jay Inslee joins me at the top of the hour to talk about his new bill intended to save Internet radio, and to give us an update on the food safety hearing earlier this week before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

8PM: Food Safety: the melamine hits the fan
Yup, I’m talking about the pet food recall again, only it isn’t just pet food anymore. The New York Times will report tomorrow on how “widespread” melamine adulteration is in China. Meanwhile, expect the scope of our known livestock contamination to expand dramatically. Scary stuff. Christie Keith from PetConnection.com joins me.

9PM: TBA

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