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Google is helpfully mapping the recent reports of animal deaths around the world. Are there reasonable, scientific reasons for all of this? Sure, probably. But that won’t stop us from speculating on a possible link to May 21, 2011 or to ETs.   Isn’t that what the Internets are for? : ) View Larger, Interactive Map . Via EUTimes: . BrazilMysterious killing of fish in coastal Canada Update 1 – 10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba Update 1 – Dead Birds and Fish reported in St. Clair River, Ontario Update 1 – Goldstream River, at Goldstream Provincial Park, Victoria mysteriously turns bright green Chile Thousands of Birds fall from the sky in South America ChinaEagles and Birds are falling from the sky in China ItalyThousands of Doves are Dying JapanJapan on alert after finding dead birds New ZealandHundreds of snapper dead on beaches South Korea Dead Teal Ducks With Bird Flu Strain Found In South Korea South Africa Mystery of dead birds on Cape roads Sweden 50 birds were found deadHundreds of dead birds found in the middle of the road in Sweden United Kingdom Dead fish discovered in canal marina near Abergavenny Update 1 – 40,000 ‘devil’ crabs found dead on the beach United States of AmericaArkansasNearly 3000 Dead Birds Fall From Arkansas SkyFirst Birds Fall, Now 100000 Fish Dead in Arkansas FloridaThousands Of Fish Dead In Spruce Creek IllinoisDead Birds Reported by Residents in Southern Illinois Kentucky Update 1 – Dead birds found in Kentucky, Sweden, as crabs wash up on U.K. shores in latest mass animal deaths LouisianaDead Birds Fall From Sky AGAIN In Louisiana, 300 Miles From Arkansas Incident Days Earlier Maryland2 Million fish die in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland Michigan Update 1 – Hundreds of Dead Fish Appear In Lincoln Park North CarolinaDead pelican count escalates in Topsail Beach Update 1: Reward offered for information on what’s causing dead pelicans at Topsail Beach Texas Update 1 – Now East Texas also reports hundreds of dead birds Update 1 – Experts in Texas are weighing in after large amounts of dead birds were reportedly found across the Country and around the World
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Google is helpfully mapping the recent reports of animal deaths around the world. Are there reasonable, scientific reasons for all of this? Sure, probably. But that won’t stop us from speculating on a possible link to May 21, 2011 or to ETs.   Isn’t that what the Internets are for? : )


View Larger, Interactive Map

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Via EUTimes:

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Brazil
Mysterious killing of fish in coastal

Canada
Update 1 – 10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba
Update 1 – Dead Birds and Fish reported in St. Clair River, Ontario
Update 1 – Goldstream River, at Goldstream Provincial Park, Victoria mysteriously turns bright green

Chile
Thousands of Birds fall from the sky in South America

China
Eagles and Birds are falling from the sky in China

Italy
Thousands of Doves are Dying

Japan
Japan on alert after finding dead birds

New Zealand
Hundreds of snapper dead on beaches

South Korea
Dead Teal Ducks With Bird Flu Strain Found In South Korea

South Africa
Mystery of dead birds on Cape roads

Sweden
50 birds were found dead
Hundreds of dead birds found in the middle of the road in Sweden

United Kingdom
Dead fish discovered in canal marina near Abergavenny
Update 1 – 40,000 ‘devil’ crabs found dead on the beach

United States of America
Arkansas
Nearly 3000 Dead Birds Fall From Arkansas Sky
First Birds Fall, Now 100000 Fish Dead in Arkansas

Florida
Thousands Of Fish Dead In Spruce Creek

Illinois
Dead Birds Reported by Residents in Southern Illinois

Kentucky
Update 1 – Dead birds found in Kentucky, Sweden, as crabs wash up on U.K. shores in latest mass animal deaths

Louisiana
Dead Birds Fall From Sky AGAIN In Louisiana, 300 Miles From Arkansas Incident Days Earlier

Maryland
2 Million fish die in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

Michigan
Update 1 – Hundreds of Dead Fish Appear In Lincoln Park

North Carolina
Dead pelican count escalates in Topsail Beach
Update 1: Reward offered for information on what’s causing dead pelicans at Topsail Beach

Texas
Update 1 – Now East Texas also reports hundreds of dead birds
Update 1 – Experts in Texas are weighing in after large amounts of dead birds were reportedly found across the Country and around the World

NRC on Fort Calhoun: “there is now two feet of water in many areas onsite.”

The NRC has augmented its inspection staff at Fort Calhoun where there is now two feet of water in many areas onsite. In addition to the two resident inspectors, three more inspectors and a branch chief are there to provide around the clock coverage of licensee activities.

[…] An earthern berm protects the electrical switchyard and a concrete barrier has been built around electrical transformers to protect them. Satellite phones have been distributed to key workers. Extra food and water has been stockpiled.

Existing diesel fuel tanks have been topped off and two additional fuel tanks have been brought onsite. Special gas-fired pumps are available in the event of station blackout. If there is a complete loss of power on site the pumps can circulate cooling water through the spent fuel pool and reactor core.

NRC Blog: The Rising River Puts Flood Preparations to the Test

They report that “The plant has erected an Aquadam around the powerblock…The water-filled berm is eight feet tall and 16 feet wide at the base, and provides protection for up to six feet of water,” and discuss how the Aquadam is protecting the plant and vital equipment.

So why is there two feet of water in many areas of the plant then? Is it coming in another way, like through drains? Because there was a Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s EVENT NOTIFICATION REPORT last Friday at Fort Calhoun:

ADDITIONAL PENETRATION IDENTIFIED FOR MITIGATION DURING WALKDOWN

“Operations identified a potential flooding issue in the Intake Structure 1007 ft. 6 in. level. The area of concern is a the hole in the floor at the 1007 ft. 6 in. level where the relief valve from FP-1A discharge pipe goes through the raw pump bay and discharges into the intake cell. There is one penetration of concern. Flooding through this penetration could have impacted the ability of the station’s Raw Water (RW) pumps to perform their design accident mitigation functions.

“Efforts are in progress to seal the penetration.

“This eight-hour notification is being made pursuant to 10 CFR 50.72 (b)(3)(v).”

Oil swirled in a flooded gravel pit in Lockwood, Mont. after an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured. Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette, via Associated Press Want to bet the ExxonMobile CEOs will still get their bonuses this year? LAUREL, Mont. (AP) — An ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River in Montana ruptured Saturday and leaked hundreds of barrels of oil into the waterway, causing a 25-mile plume that fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts downstream to close intakes. The break near Billings in south-central Montana led to temporary evacuations of hundreds of residents along a 20-mile stretch. And here’s what the governor of Montana has to say about it: […] “The parties responsible will restore the Yellowstone River,” Mont. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said. I guess if Schweitzer were a Republican, he’d probably say that ‘accidents happen‘ and tell everyone to man up and to not ‘demonize‘ ExxonMobile. ExxonMobil spokeswoman Pam Malek said the pipe leaked an estimated 750 to 1,000 barrels of oil for about a half-hour before it was shut down. Other Exxon officials had estimated up to 42,000 gallons of crude oil escaped. […] “The timing couldn’t be worse,” said Steve Knecht, chief of operations for Montana Disaster and Emergency Services, who added that the plume was measured at 25 miles near Pompeys Pillar National Monument. “With the Yellowstone running at flood stage and all the debris, it makes it dang tough to get out there to do anything.” Brent Peters, the fire chief for the city of Laurel about 12 miles west of Billings, said the rupture in the 12-inch diameter pipe occurred late Friday about a mile south of Laurel. He said about 140 people in the Laurel area were evacuated early Saturday due to concerns about possible explosions and the overpowering fumes. He said they were allowed to return at about 4 a.m. after fumes had decreased. Full story… The Republicans insist on continuing to subsidize oil companies — while some, like Rand Paul, wouldn’t even require them to be financially responsible for spills like this. Also, too, drill here, drill now! ExxonMobile oil spill in Yellowstone River, hundreds evacuated See all oil spill posts »
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Oil swirled in a flooded gravel pit in Lockwood, Mont. after an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured. Larry Mayer/The Billings Gazette, via Associated Press

Want to bet the ExxonMobile CEOs will still get their bonuses this year?

LAUREL, Mont. (AP) — An ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River in Montana ruptured Saturday and leaked hundreds of barrels of oil into the waterway, causing a 25-mile plume that fouled the riverbank and forced municipalities and irrigation districts downstream to close intakes.

The break near Billings in south-central Montana led to temporary evacuations of hundreds of residents along a 20-mile stretch.

And here’s what the governor of Montana has to say about it:

[…] “The parties responsible will restore the Yellowstone River,” Mont. Gov. Brian Schweitzer said.

I guess if Schweitzer were a Republican, he’d probably say that ‘accidents happen‘ and tell everyone to man up and to not ‘demonize‘ ExxonMobile.

ExxonMobil spokeswoman Pam Malek said the pipe leaked an estimated 750 to 1,000 barrels of oil for about a half-hour before it was shut down. Other Exxon officials had estimated up to 42,000 gallons of crude oil escaped.

[…] “The timing couldn’t be worse,” said Steve Knecht, chief of operations for Montana Disaster and Emergency Services, who added that the plume was measured at 25 miles near Pompeys Pillar National Monument. “With the Yellowstone running at flood stage and all the debris, it makes it dang tough to get out there to do anything.”

Brent Peters, the fire chief for the city of Laurel about 12 miles west of Billings, said the rupture in the 12-inch diameter pipe occurred late Friday about a mile south of Laurel.

He said about 140 people in the Laurel area were evacuated early Saturday due to concerns about possible explosions and the overpowering fumes. He said they were allowed to return at about 4 a.m. after fumes had decreased.

Full story…

The Republicans insist on continuing to subsidize oil companies — while some, like Rand Paul, wouldn’t even require them to be financially responsible for spills like this.

Also, too, drill here, drill now!

ExxonMobile oil spill in Yellowstone River, hundreds evacuated

See all oil spill posts »


Who will pay for ExxonMobile’s oil spill in the Yellowstone? You and I — at the pump and with tax subsidies. Certainly NOT the GOP-protected oil company or its CEOs. The Center for American Progress’s Valeri Vasquez has put out a new report titled “Exxon Mobil Dodges the Tax Man,” which finds that the effective income tax rate for the average American is higher than the effective rate for the oil giant over the past few years. The effective tax rate for the average American in 2007, the last year for which data is available, was 20.4 percent. The annual Exxon federal effective rate between 2008 and 2010, meanwhile, was 17.6 percent (graph above). As ThinkProgress has previously documented, important services and public investments in Main Street America continue to be cut while the wealthiest among us are paying the lowest taxes in a generation. Meanwhile, a number of major corporations are going quarters and/or years without paying any federal corporate income taxes at all. God bless America corporations and the wealthy! Who will pay for the clean up of the Yellowstone River after ExxonMobile’s oil spill? You and I. See all oil spill posts »
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Who will pay for ExxonMobile’s oil spill in the Yellowstone? You and I — at the pump and with tax subsidies. Certainly NOT the GOP-protected oil company or its CEOs.

The Center for American Progress’s Valeri Vasquez has put out a new report titled “Exxon Mobil Dodges the Tax Man,” which finds that the effective income tax rate for the average American is higher than the effective rate for the oil giant over the past few years. The effective tax rate for the average American in 2007, the last year for which data is available, was 20.4 percent. The annual Exxon federal effective rate between 2008 and 2010, meanwhile, was 17.6 percent (graph above).

As ThinkProgress has previously documented, important services and public investments in Main Street America continue to be cut while the wealthiest among us are paying the lowest taxes in a generation. Meanwhile, a number of major corporations are going quarters and/or years without paying any federal corporate income taxes at all.

God bless America corporations and the wealthy!

Who will pay for the clean up of the Yellowstone River after ExxonMobile’s oil spill? You and I.

See all oil spill posts »

Via Think Progress: On July 17, Governor Mary Fallin asked all Oklahomans to set aside time to pray for rain. The drought actually worsened afterwards in the following two weeks (above). Is God mad at Mary Fallin or Oklahoma? Maybe Pat Robertson has some thoughts on why God thinks Oklahoma and Mary Fallin deserve this drought? Or maybe some of the extremist right wing preachers who worked with Rick Perry for his Prayer Rally this past week can explain it. I mean, if Japan’s earthquake WAS caused by their Emperor having sex with a demon, then what in God’s name is going on in Oklahoma and Texas? Seriously. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin prays for rain, drought worsens: how mad is God?
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Via Think Progress:

On July 17, Governor Mary Fallin asked all Oklahomans to set aside time to pray for rain. The drought actually worsened afterwards in the following two weeks (above).

Is God mad at Mary Fallin or Oklahoma? Maybe Pat Robertson has some thoughts on why God thinks Oklahoma and Mary Fallin deserve this drought?

Or maybe some of the extremist right wing preachers who worked with Rick Perry for his Prayer Rally this past week can explain it. I mean, if Japan’s earthquake WAS caused by their Emperor having sex with a demon, then what in God’s name is going on in Oklahoma and Texas? Seriously.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin prays for rain, drought worsens: how mad is God?

The GOP-led House is holding the payroll tax cut hostage because of Big Oil and Coal regulation Extending tax cuts for working and middle class Americans is being held up by Boehner’s House. The Republicans are trying to frame this standoff as being about length of time — that two months isn’t long enough. It’s not about the length of time. The GOP will ONLY agree if the oil and coal industries get to pollute without question or consequence: The payroll tax bill sent by House Republicans to the U.S. Senate included two polluter poison pills, the Keystone XL provision for the oil industry and Boiler MACT language to protect toxic coal pollution. In an underreported move, the Senate stripped the coal poison pill. Now GOP members of the House are “committed” to put coal back in the Christmas stocking. They are willing to let the extension of the payroll tax cut die to attack the so-called Boiler MACT rules that would save tens of thousands of lives a year… And here’s an unsurprising fact: […] Boehner, Upton, Murphy, LaTourette, and Griffith have received a combined $1,789,000 in contributions from the coal industry since 1999. If the GOP-led House gets its way and you’re a working or middle class Republican voter, what exactly did you win in this fight?
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The GOP-led House is holding the payroll tax cut hostage because of Big Oil and Coal regulation

Extending tax cuts for working and middle class Americans is being held up by Boehner’s House. The Republicans are trying to frame this standoff as being about length of time — that two months isn’t long enough. It’s not about the length of time. The GOP will ONLY agree if the oil and coal industries get to pollute without question or consequence:

The payroll tax bill sent by House Republicans to the U.S. Senate included two polluter poison pills, the Keystone XL provision for the oil industry and Boiler MACT language to protect toxic coal pollution. In an underreported move, the Senate stripped the coal poison pill. Now GOP members of the House are “committed” to put coal back in the Christmas stocking. They are willing to let the extension of the payroll tax cut die to attack the so-called Boiler MACT rules that would save tens of thousands of lives a year…

And here’s an unsurprising fact:

[…] Boehner, Upton, Murphy, LaTourette, and Griffith have received a combined $1,789,000 in contributions from the coal industry since 1999.

If the GOP-led House gets its way and you’re a working or middle class Republican voter, what exactly did you win in this fight?

… Santorum: Endangered Species Act puts ‘critters above people’ - “I know that from personal experience in Pennsylvania, and look at the Central Valley of California. There are so many places that we put critters above people. It’s a radical ideology that says we are here to serve the Earth instead of man having dominion over the Earth to serve him and to be a good steward of that Earth. …I accept the fact that the president’s a Christian. I just said when you have world view that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth like things that are not scientifically proven like the politicization of the whole global warming debate.” “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,” says Rick Santorum.
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Santorum: Endangered Species Act puts ‘critters above people’ - “I know that from personal experience in Pennsylvania, and look at the Central Valley of California. There are so many places that we put critters above people. It’s a radical ideology that says we are here to serve the Earth instead of man having dominion over the Earth to serve him and to be a good steward of that Earth. …I accept the fact that the president’s a Christian. I just said when you have world view that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth like things that are not scientifically proven like the politicization of the whole global warming debate.”

  • “The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,” says Rick Santorum.
… The primitive, Bible-thumping, climate-deniers may be the GOP’s useful idiots, but the world will move on despite them David Brin shares some interesting and somewhat reassuring information about everyone in the world who is not an American Republican (tea)Party climate-change denier: I regularly consult with various branches of our “protector caste”… from the military services and homeland security to several unnamed “agencies.” Naturally, I am encouraged by the fact that some of the most serious-minded men and women on the planet are very interested in well-grounded projections of diverse possible futures – not only mine, but those of several other “science & sci-fi guys.” […] Absolutely all of the top-elite officers of these services appear to be convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, about Human Generated Climate Change (HGCC). All of those I have met consider it to be both real and one of the greatest challenges of our time. Ponder this:the US Navy is striving with great intensity to prepare for an Arctic Ocean that is nearly ice-free for large parts of the year. Canada is shifting most of its military budget northward. The Russians have moved an entire division to the Siberian northern coast.  And dig this.  The Russian Navy’s top priority? Their pride-and-joy?  SIX brand new, double-hulled, nuclear powered icebreakers they recently put in service. (The U.S. has one large, single-hulled, obsolete oil-powered breaker, soon to be retired. The U.S. Coast Guard operates three smaller, conventional ice breakers out of Seattle.) A year or so ago, the Northwest passage opened so wide that a flood of cargo vessels raced through it from China to Europe. And prospectors are sifting for treasures on the sea floor, where Peary once spent a summer dragging sledges over ice-continents in search of the Pole. What do all of these groups share in common? They cannot afford to let their view of reality be warped by willful delusion, just-so stories, Beckian rants and dogma, They don’t have the time for denialism. […] Perhaps no industry better understands the impact of global warming than the insurance industry whose job it is to analyze risk. See the video of the March 1st press conference. Marsh & McLennan, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, called climate change “one of the most significant emerging risks facing the world today.” As Jules Boykoff put it in The Guardian, “Let’s be clear: insurance firms aren’t altruists; they’re capitalists. A rise in extreme weather means a fall in their profits. This is hardball economics based on risk analysis, not save-the-polar-bears stuff.” […] So, if all the men and women who must combine brains, education and professionalism with harsh practicality can see the desperate need to prepare, how do 40% of the citizens of a great nation enter denial so severe they’ll demean and ignore not only scientists and the insurance industry… but even the U.S. Navy? […] there is a word for people who refuse to take reasonable precautions, or even negotiate in good faith the cheapest and most efficient just-in-case precautions, demanding instead (at the behest of a couple of coal-billionaire brothers)  that climate theory be absolutely proved in all levels, in all ways, before we take prudent, moderate measures to protect ourselves. That word is imbeciles. Continue…
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The primitive, Bible-thumping, climate-deniers may be the GOP’s useful idiots, but the world will move on despite them

David Brin shares some interesting and somewhat reassuring information about everyone in the world who is not an American Republican (tea)Party climate-change denier:

I regularly consult with various branches of our “protector caste”… from the military services and homeland security to several unnamed “agencies.” Naturally, I am encouraged by the fact that some of the most serious-minded men and women on the planet are very interested in well-grounded projections of diverse possible futures – not only mine, but those of several other “science & sci-fi guys.”

[…] Absolutely all of the top-elite officers of these services appear to be convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, about Human Generated Climate Change (HGCC). All of those I have met consider it to be both real and one of the greatest challenges of our time.

Ponder this:the US Navy is striving with great intensity to prepare for an Arctic Ocean that is nearly ice-free for large parts of the year. Canada is shifting most of its military budget northward.

The Russians have moved an entire division to the Siberian northern coast.  And dig this.  The Russian Navy’s top priority? Their pride-and-joy?  SIX brand new, double-hulled, nuclear powered icebreakers they recently put in service. (The U.S. has one large, single-hulled, obsolete oil-powered breaker, soon to be retired. The U.S. Coast Guard operates three smaller, conventional ice breakers out of Seattle.)

A year or so ago, the Northwest passage opened so wide that a flood of cargo vessels raced through it from China to Europe. And prospectors are sifting for treasures on the sea floor, where Peary once spent a summer dragging sledges over ice-continents in search of the Pole.

What do all of these groups share in common? They cannot afford to let their view of reality be warped by willful delusion, just-so stories, Beckian rants and dogma, They don’t have the time for denialism.

[…] Perhaps no industry better understands the impact of global warming than the insurance industry whose job it is to analyze risk. See the video of the March 1st press conference. Marsh & McLennan, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, called climate change “one of the most significant emerging risks facing the world today.” As Jules Boykoff put it in The Guardian, “Let’s be clear: insurance firms aren’t altruists; they’re capitalists. A rise in extreme weather means a fall in their profits. This is hardball economics based on risk analysis, not save-the-polar-bears stuff.”

[…] So, if all the men and women who must combine brains, education and professionalism with harsh practicality can see the desperate need to prepare, how do 40% of the citizens of a great nation enter denial so severe they’ll demean and ignore not only scientists and the insurance industry… but even the U.S. Navy? […] there is a word for people who refuse to take reasonable precautions, or even negotiate in good faith the cheapest and most efficient just-in-case precautions, demanding instead (at the behest of a couple of coal-billionaire brothers)  that climate theory be absolutely proved in all levels, in all ways, before we take prudent, moderate measures to protect ourselves.

That word is imbeciles.

Continue…

Lunch break video: Chris Hedges — unfettered Capitalism and how the U.S. will cannibalize itself

The ethic of Capitalism: everything is a commodity to be exploited, including human beings and the natural world.

Partial transcript of the beginning:

CH: Unfettered or unregulated capitalism is about societies that cannibalize themselves. When capitalism is the dominant ideology, and as Marx understood it’s a revolutionary ideology, it turns everything into a commodity, including human beings. And of course natural reasouces. And it exploits these commodities until they are exhausted and they are destroyed. And that’s precisely what has happened. We have allowed all of the restraints, which were never heavy enough, on the capitalist system to be lifted. And built into capitalism is a self-destructive quality, a form of self annihlation. And that’s what we are undergoing at this moment. It’s a form of collective suicide, in a way, because the ramifications of this economic collapse are going to be played out far beyond the economic sphere. It’s going to deeply disrupt the social, cultural, as well as the economic life of ordinary Americans.

MM: And yet they’re trying to fix the problem with capitalism.

CH: Yes, well of course that is what’s so tragic: they’re trying to sustain an unsustainable system.

Watch all 9 minutes — it’s very good.

Daily Kos: USDA considering privatizing meat/poultry inspection! WTF/ACTION

randomactsofchaos:

From Grist comes this’ What are they thinking?’ moment

Don’t like shit in your meat/poultry? Well too bad cause if the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) moves forward with plans to privatize part of its meat and poultry inspection program that’s what you’ll get.

Under the current rules, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is responsible for inspecting all chicken and turkey carcasses for things like bruises, bile, and yes, shit, before they’re sent for further processing. The proposed HACCP-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) would remove those USDA inspectors from the lines, leaving poultry plant employees, who already stand in a fast moving I-Love-Lucy style line to flag unsanitary or otherwise flawed birds

It’s a plain and simple job cutting, money saving measure. The program is projected to save FSIS up to $95 million over three years, and to give a $250 million boost to poultry companies.

“All [HIMP] really is, is a way to dramatically lower quality and standards,” says Amanda Hitt, director of the Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign. Poultry, she adds, “shouldn’t have feathers, scabs, blisters and pustules. It shouldn’t have feces in the cavity. These are all things that now, under HIMP, are going to be left to the plants to deal with.”

Not surprisingly, republicans are all over this like ants over honey. This is what they do. And how well has that worked out? It’s been a disaster from our privatized health care system to our privatized wars The profits first ideology has undermined our population and our democracy.

This is an assault on food safety and public health and although there are rumors that the program could start as early as October we may be able to influence this debacle.

There is a comment period which runs through April 26. Lets try to make them wish they had never thought of this stupid idea!

Sign the petition

dendroica: It’s not incredibly surprising to see deformities in the wake of the oil spill—we knew (and know) very little about dispersants in general and about Corexit, the dispersant used by BP, in particular. A nonprofit environmental law firm called Earthjustice actually had to sue to obtain the precise formula of the material, and even then, that group claims that there is nowhere near enough data to know what effects the dispersant will have on the Gulf. According to Earthjustice’s review, at least 13 of the 57 chemicals in Corexit are suspected or known to be toxic to aquatic life. Phosphorus, for example, may have helped microbes readily break down the oil, but phosphorus also happens to be toxic to fish. What’s not clear is what’s actually causing these deformities—is it the oil, the dispersant, or both? We do know, disturbingly, that the oil entered the food chain. That may be part of the problem here—shrimp and crabs are bottom-feeders, and snapper, according to Wikipedia, also commonly feast on crustaceans like sea lice and crabs (though not shrimp). (via Deformities in Gulf Seafood Found After BP Oil Spill | Popular Science) … Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs “with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they’ve been dead for a week”. Rooks is also finding eyeless shrimp, shrimp with abnormal growths, female shrimp with their babies still attached to them, and shrimp with oiled gills. “We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills.” Drill, baby, drill
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dendroica:

It’s not incredibly surprising to see deformities in the wake of the oil spill—we knew (and know) very little about dispersants in general and about Corexit, the dispersant used by BP, in particular. A nonprofit environmental law firm called Earthjustice actually had to sue to obtain the precise formula of the material, and even then, that group claims that there is nowhere near enough data to know what effects the dispersant will have on the Gulf. According to Earthjustice’s review, at least 13 of the 57 chemicals in Corexit are suspected or known to be toxic to aquatic life. Phosphorus, for example, may have helped microbes readily break down the oil, but phosphorus also happens to be toxic to fish. What’s not clear is what’s actually causing these deformities—is it the oil, the dispersant, or both?

We do know, disturbingly, that the oil entered the food chain. That may be part of the problem here—shrimp and crabs are bottom-feeders, and snapper, according to Wikipedia, also commonly feast on crustaceans like sea lice and crabs (though not shrimp).

(via Deformities in Gulf Seafood Found After BP Oil Spill | Popular Science)

…

Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs “with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they’ve been dead for a week”.

Rooks is also finding eyeless shrimp, shrimp with abnormal growths, female shrimp with their babies still attached to them, and shrimp with oiled gills.

“We also seeing eyeless fish, and fish lacking even eye-sockets, and fish with lesions, fish without covers over their gills, and others with large pink masses hanging off their eyes and gills.”

Drill, baby, drill

motherjones: Kate Sheppard reports: It’s been two years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil on the Gulf of Mexico. In the midst of the disaster, BP and its contractors did everything they could to keep people from seeing the scale of the disaster. But new photos released Monday offer some new insight to just how grim the Gulf became for sea life. You can see the rest here. (Warning: soul-crushingly sad.) Soul, crushed. Thanks BP.
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motherjones:

Kate Sheppard reports:

It’s been two years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster unleashed 4.9 million barrels of oil on the Gulf of Mexico. In the midst of the disaster, BP and its contractors did everything they could to keep people from seeing the scale of the disaster. But new photos released Monday offer some new insight to just how grim the Gulf became for sea life.

You can see the rest here. (Warning: soul-crushingly sad.)

Soul, crushed. Thanks BP.

High Park Fire, Colorado: 36,930 acres now burned, still growing Yesterday 8,000 acres were reported burning. So in the past 24 hours, the fire has grown an additional 28,930 acres. That’s a huge jump. From InciWeb the Incident Information System: Eighteen structures are confirmed lost or damaged and others are threatened. No details about the structures are available. Firefighters will continue to evaluate the area as it is safe to do so. Evacuations have happened quickly. Public and firefighter safety is our priority. One of the management objectives is to keep the fire within a boundary identified as north of Buckhorn Road, east of Pingree Park Road, South of Highway 14, and west of Boyd Gulch/Redstone Canyon. However, the fire has crossed Highway 14.Eight 20-person crews and other firefighters on scene Sunday. Personnel involved: 400 Air resources on scene include: 5 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEAT); 2 Type 1 Helitankers; 2 Type 3 Helicopters; 3 Heavy Air Tankers; Air Attack; and Lead Plane. Approximately 15 engines are on scene. A Type 1 Management Team has been ordered and are expected to take over management Monday morning. Additional ground, air, and engines have been ordered. You can listen to some of the EMS, Fire, and LE personnel who are involved HERE.
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High Park Fire, Colorado: 36,930 acres now burned, still growing

Yesterday 8,000 acres were reported burning. So in the past 24 hours, the fire has grown an additional 28,930 acres. That’s a huge jump. From InciWeb the Incident Information System:

Eighteen structures are confirmed lost or damaged and others are threatened. No details about the structures are available. Firefighters will continue to evaluate the area as it is safe to do so. Evacuations have happened quickly. Public and firefighter safety is our priority. One of the management objectives is to keep the fire within a boundary identified as north of Buckhorn Road, east of Pingree Park Road, South of Highway 14, and west of Boyd Gulch/Redstone Canyon. However, the fire has crossed Highway 14.Eight 20-person crews and other firefighters on scene Sunday.

  • Personnel involved: 400
  • Air resources on scene include: 5 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEAT); 2 Type 1 Helitankers; 2 Type 3 Helicopters; 3 Heavy Air Tankers; Air Attack; and Lead Plane. Approximately 15 engines are on scene. A Type 1 Management Team has been ordered and are expected to take over management Monday morning. Additional ground, air, and engines have been ordered.

You can listen to some of the EMS, Fire, and LE personnel who are involved HERE.

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