Toxic toys, now with 700 times more lead, and coffee with flame retardant

"The Star shopped at 18 retailers in the GTA and found lead in about one in every four [children's] products purchased."
A pacifier.
A Disney bracelet testing at 445 times the legal limit on lead in jewellery marketed to children.
A child's jewelry clasp at 700 times the federal limit.

Wait. A pacifier? We still permit lead in pacifiers?

"Since 2002, Health Canada has proposed that it be made illegal to sell a pacifier with more than 90 parts per million lead. But there is still no law banning lead in pacifiers.
Meanwhile, the Star found a pacifier at Everything For a Dollar on Warden Ave. that tested at more than 10 times the proposed limit."

Apparently Health Canada may issue "recall notices", but "a recall notice does not allow the government to actually demand a recall of dangerous items", leaving "retailers to police themselves".

Liberal MP Paul Szabo :"The system doesn't work. Imports from China are a disaster."

In reference to the proposed pacifier law, "Health Minister Clement told the Star he would consider adding such a measure to any law he proposes, should he be re-elected Oct. 14."

I guess this falls into the category of "lazy fare" economics.
Stop buying crap, people.

Note : Would also be wise to avoid foods containing flame retardant :
"Mr. Brown 3-in-1 Instant Coffee products distributed in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, however, revealed melamine levels three times as high as those that made the Chinese children ill."
M&M's milk chocolate snack and Snickers peanut Fun Size were withdrawn in Korea after testing for melamine, although Mars and Nestle's both declared them "absolutely safe by recognized international standards."

We have standards. Yes we do. And they're flame-retardant too.

Cross-posted at Creekside

THE REAL MAJORITY -- a poster for the rest of us

It's time the rest of us had a poster to put in the window. I'm printing mine and putting it up tonight. Go for it! Copy it, link to it, repost it freely elsewhere,

The original is 2680 x 2280 at 180 dpi. I will forward it to you if you cannot get it from this post. However it is copyright 2008 Noni Mausa, so don't change it in any way. Make your own, if you want big changes. Otherwise, Enjoy!

Noni

Perspective Dep't.

Beloit College is, well, Beloit College, to be found at 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511, according to the website. They publish the Mindset List.          

Each August for the past 11 years, Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. It is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. The List is shared with faculty and with thousands who request it each year as the school year begins, as a reminder of the rapidly changing frame of reference for this new generation.

For 2008, the list has:

  1. Most students entering college this fall were born in 1986.
  2. Desi Arnaz, Orson Welles, Roy Orbison, Ted Bundy, Ayatollah Khomeini and Cary Grant have always been dead.
  3. "Here's Johnny!" is a scary greeting from Jack Nicholson, not a warm welcome from Ed McMahon.
  4. The Energizer bunny has always been going, and going, and going.
  5. Large fine-print ads for prescription drugs have always appeared in magazines.
  6. Photographs have always been processed in an hour or less.
  7. They never got a chance to drink 7-Up Gold, Crystal Pepsi, or Apple Slice.
  8. Baby Jessica could be a classmate.
  9. Parents may have been reading The Bourne Supremacy or It as they rocked them in their cradles.
10.Alan Greenspan has always been setting the nation's financial direction.
11. The U.S. has always been a Prozac nation.
12. They have always enjoyed the comfort of pleather.
13. Harry has always known Sally.
14. They never saw Roseanne Rosannadanna live on Saturday Night Live.
15. There has always been a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
16. They never ate a McSub at McD's.
17. There has always been a Comedy Channel.
18. Bill and Ted have always been on an excellent adventure.
19. They were never tempted by smokeless cigarettes.
20. Robert Downey, Jr. has always been in trouble.
21. Martha Stewart has always been cooking up something with someone.
22. They have always been comfortable with gay characters on television.
23. Mike Tyson has always been a contender.
24. The government has always been proposing we go to Mars, and it has always been deemed to expensive.
25. There have never been any Playboy Clubs.
26. There have always been night games at Wrigley Field.
27. Rogaine has always been available for the follicularly challenged.
28. They never saw USA Today or the Christian Science Monitor as a TV news program.
29. Computers have always suffered from viruses.
30. We have always been mapping the human genome.
31. Politicians have always used rock music for theme songs.
32. Network television has always struggled to keep up with cable.
33. O'Hare has always been the most delay-plagued airport in the U.S.
34. Ivan Boesky has never sold stock.
35. Toll-free 800 phone numbers have always spelled out catchy phrases.
36. Bethlehem has never been a place of peace at Christmas.
37. Episcopal women bishops have always threatened the foundation of the Anglican Church.
38. Svelte Oprah has always dominated afternoon television; who was Phil Donahue anyway?
39. They never flew on People Express.
40. AZT has always been used to treat AIDS.
41. The international community has always been installing or removing the leader of Haiti.
42. Oliver North has always been a talk show host and news commentator.
43. They have suffered through airport security systems since they were in strollers.
44. They have done most of their search for the right college online.
45. Aspirin has always been used to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
46. They were spared the TV ads for Zamfir and his panpipes.
47. Castro has always been an aging politician in a suit.
48. There have always been non-stop flights around the world without refueling.
49. Cher hasn't aged a day.
50. M.A.S.H. was a game: Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House.

The "Let Us Blow Smoke Up Your Ass" Show

So I didn't watch the "Let Us Blow Smoke Up Your Ass" reality TV broadcaaaast last evening. Either of them for that matter.

Did any of the pretenders blow enough smoke up anybody's ass to win themselves immunity? Did any of them blow too little and get voted off the island?

No, you say?

I'm shocked, that is to say I'm stunned.

First class smoke blowers like those and not one of them managed to make anyone's nostrils dilate or clamp shut in disgust?

Unheard of. Unimaginable. Incontheevable!

What a waste of perfectly good TV time.

I gotta go shit on an election sign.

Quick Trip to Regina

I've just returned from a trip to Regina to see my mom and visit old friends.

Regina hasn't changed all that much except for the extended strip mall that seems to surround the entire city. Yes, there are lots of new office buildings downtown with walkways between them, very nice for those months when the climate is just too inhospitable (basically January through December). There are new neighbourhoods with overpriced new homes. There is the splendid new version of Wascana Lake, replete with fountains, marinas and actual deep water in some places. You can sit outside and have a cold beer on the patio of a restaurant now without the police hauling you off for violating public decency codes.

And of course there's the Grant Devine Memorial Refinery on the north east edge of town. At night it looks like Las Vegas is burning out there. I shot this from the balcony of my mom's apartment 3 blocks south of downtown centre with a 10x optical zoom with my Panasonic Lumix.

Here's the same shot during daylight hours.


A little too close for my liking.

I saw some people I haven't seen for a very long time including two men who were teachers of mine in high school. I graduated in '65 so these men are in their mid and late eighties. One of them began teaching in 1942, basically right after his own graduation from high school. He taught in little, isolated rural schools where the teachers had a residence supplied and the local population paid the teachers in food and supplies. He told me of a time when the local board made him and the two other teachers work on Thanksgiving Day. He couldn't figure out why and resented it. Then he got back to the residence and discovered that while he was teaching the town had come in and filled the residence with food and other supplies. Enough canned goods, preserved foods for the winter, a full root cellar, enough wood and coal for the winter and a huge hot Thanksgiving dinner on the table.

Imagine valuing teachers that highly. What could they have been thinking?

I also needed to find out what had killed one of my oldest friends. Congestive heart failure as it turns out. I may have some more to say about him but for now suffice it to say that mortality is on my mind.

A little relief

Alison has this ability to find really, really scary stuff, like Project Censored 2009 below. Between the FBI acting like the STASI, and the setting up of torture schools in South America, it sure isn't pretty. Neither is this, but at least you can wonder about the hair.

Project Censored 2009 - the news that didn't make the news

From Project Censored, their top 25 stories the media failed to report or reported poorly :

.

#1. Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation

"Over one million Iraqis have met violent deaths as a result of the 2003 invasion, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business (ORB). These numbers suggest that the invasion and occupation of Iraq rivals the mass killings of the last century—the human toll exceeds the 800,000 to 900,000 believed killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and is approaching the number (1.7 million) who died in Cambodia’s infamous “Killing Fields” during the Khmer Rouge era of the 1970s." continued ...

.

#2. Security and Prosperity Partnership : Militarized NAFTA

"Leaders of Canada, the US, and Mexico have been meeting to secretly expand the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with “deep integration” of a more militarized tri-national Homeland Security force. Taking shape under the radar of the respective governments and without public knowledge or consideration, the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)—headquartered in Washington—aims to integrate the three nations into a single political, economic, and security bloc." continued ...

.

#3 InfraGard : The FBI Deputizes Business

"More than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect and provide information on fellow Americans. In return, members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public, and at times before elected officials. “There is evidence that InfraGard may be closer to a corporate Total Information Awareness program (TIPS), turning private-sector corporations—some of which may be in a position to observe the activities of millions of individual customers—into surrogate eyes and ears for the FBI,” according to an ACLU report titled “The Surveillance-Industrial Complex: How the American Government Is Conscripting Businesses and Individuals in the Construction of a Surveillance Society.” continued....

.

#4 ILEA : Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?

"A resurgence of US-backed militarism threatens peace and democracy in Latin America. By 2005, US military aid to Latin America had increased by thirty-four times the amount spent in 2000. In a marked shift in US military strategy, secretive training of Latin American military and police personnel that used to just take place at the notorious School of the Americas, in Fort Benning, Georgia—including torture and execution techniques—is now decentralized. The 2008 US federal budget includes $16.5 million to fund an International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in El Salvador, with satellite operations in Peru. With provision of immunity from charges of crimes against humanity, each academy will train an average of 1,500 police officers, judges, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officials throughout Latin America per year in “counterterrorism techniques.” continued....

.

#5 Seizing War Protesters' Assets

"President Bush has signed two executive orders that would allow the US Treasury Department to seize the property of any person perceived to, directly or indirectly, pose a threat to US operations in the Middle East. " continued...

.

And another 20 at Project Censored

.

"The twentieth century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy."

~ Alex Carey : "Taking the Risk Out of Democracy"

Cross-posted at Creekside

The Debates

The only thing you'll hear from me on political leaders' debates

Everyone's abuzz. Good. Be pumped. If you ask any partisan they will tell you their "man" won.

Good for you.

There is only one thing I was interested in and it came thundering in: Is Harper the "leader" he claims to be?

I could just say NO and walk away happy that I've satisfied myself and the next thousand readers will get that little piece of propaganda. That's pretty easy. (I'm surprized the Conservatives aren't recruiting me.)

So here's why the answer to my question is NO.

I learned a long time ago that leadership has more facets than a perfectly cut diamond. But there are two things a good leader must always be:

1. A quick learner;
2. Open minded.

Simple stuff.

I have a little problem with "stay the course" on any issue. If one doesn't explore outside the box, one doesn't really know what's out there. If a person isolates their view to one set path, they may never know that there is a different possible route. Maybe it's better.

Harper's performance over two nights demonstrates that he's not a quick learner. He prefers to be the expert on all subjects and "friends" let me tell you, that's impossible. We learn from our mistakes. Some people however try to hide them and personally ignore them.

Secondly, a leader is open-minded. Everyone has something to offer and a good leader considers every idea. Dogmatic people are traditionally poor leaders.

Thus, with every "Let me make this clear" line issued by Harper, he proved that his mind is closed. Nobody can possibly have a better plan than he - that's why he won't waste his time telling you about it.

Wouldn't it be surprizing if, one day, a candidate said, "Y'know, that's actually a good idea," when engaging an opponent?

Far from showing weakness, it shows powerful leadership.... somebody I might vote for. Too bad Harper didn't display any tonight.

Specific Gene Found In Adolescent Men With Delinquent Peers

From ScienceDaily:

Birds of a feather flock together, according to the old adage, and adolescent males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene are more likely to flock to delinquent peers, according to a landmark study led by Florida State University criminologist Kevin M. Beaver.

But the study led by Beaver is the first to establish a statistically significant association between an affinity for antisocial peer groups and a particular variation (called the 10-repeat allele) of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1).

This could be dangerous. Welcome to biosocial data analysis by those who can, and possible infringement of access to areas of our society because your DNA makes somebody think you might not be trustworthy.

Grief goes better with milk.

HIV/AIDS Pandemic Began Around 1900

From ScienceDaily:

New research indicates that the most pervasive global strain of HIV began spreading among humans between 1884 and 1924, suggesting that growing urbanization in colonial Africa set the stage for the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The estimated period of origin, considerably earlier than the previous estimate of 1930, coincides with the establishment and rise of urban centers in west-central Africa where the pandemic HIV strain, HIV-1 group M, emerged. The growth of cities and associated high-risk behaviors may have been the key change that allowed the virus to flourish.

HIV-infected T cells. (Credit: Courtesy of Dr. Tom Folks, NIAID)

Good Time Harper . . . .

In honour of tonight's English language debate:





WARNING: You won't be able to get the tune out of your head . . . .


H/T Aunty Bertha and Garth Turner's original post.

Hiring blind. The Conservatives are offering Steve...

... And only Steve.

The Gazetteer points at Conservative candidate Dona Cadman who refused to show up for an all-candidates forum hosted by CBC's Rick Cluff who, as Ross says, is a softball tosser.

Cathie discovers that Regina Wascana Conservative candidate Michelle Hunter pulled the same stunt when she refused to attend a political forum at the University of Regina.

And the list of StealthCons grows each day. Conservative candidates who refuse to answer questions and attend forums. Who dodge all-candidates debates and whose only reply to any question they inadvertently get caught on is, "Stephen Harper is a great leader."

Right. The same great leader who has sent the word out to all Conservative candidates in every riding: Universities are a No-Fly Zone.

Student leaders in Manitoba are in an uproar after receiving an e-mail from Conservative campaign organizers calling the University of Winnipeg a "no-fly zone," indicating Tory representatives would not take part in the institution's all-candidates forum. [...] When organizer David Jacks of the Canadian Federation of Students sought another Conservative party candidate in Daodu's place, he was shocked at the e-mail he received in response. The party would not be sending a representative, the brief e-mail said, adding: "This one is a no fly zone." [...] "What is a no-fly zone?" wonders Jonny Sopotiuk, president of the students union at the University of Manitoba...

Let me try that one on, Jonny.

A no-fly zone is a place where you run the risk of getting shot down unless you really have your shit together. It's risky and what has become obvious is that these people don't have any guts and they certainly don't want to be flying through any flak.

In short, the Conservative campaign is to stay inside the wire. It's spreading. The Conservatives are afraid to face their record and they don't want to discuss their plans.

Think about it. You're on the hiring committee for a new employee; one of them refuses to attend a face-to-face interview because they don't want to answer two questions: What they've done in the past and what they offer your company for the future.

But they still want the job.

Tell me what a prospective employer would do if a job applicant behaved the same way.

Yes, Steve. Lennon admits that he was using drugs when he wrote this one. What's your excuse.

The FundamentalsOfTheEconomyAreStrong. Don'tLetAnybodyElseScrewYouBeforeIGetAChance edition.

Because sometimes there is something other than politics....

And carpet-baggers, and thieves selling ponzi schemes, and corporations crying for less regulation at the same time they ask mom and pop to bail them out so they can keep the BMW.

------

His father was a major general in the United States Air Force. And like any good major general, his father wanted him to pursue a career in the military.

In 1958 he graduated with a BA in literature, but not from a military academy.

He earned a Rhodes scholarship and read English literature at Merton College. After Oxford, in 1960, he finally fulfilled his father's wishes and joined the US Army. He completed flight training as a helicopter pilot and then he successfully completed training as a US Army Ranger.

He was posted to West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry Division. As his tour was ending he was offered a position as professor at West Point Military Academy.

He resigned his commission instead and moved to Nashville Tennessee where he pursued his passion for songwriting. Through some series of misfortune, he ended up sweeping floors at a recording studio.

In his off time he worked as a commercial helicopter pilot flying for oil rigs off the Louisiana coast. He wrote two of his best-known songs sitting on an offshore oil rig.

In all honesty, I don't think he's much of a singer. Most of his albums have heavy instrumentals to cover an often flat and out of tune voice.

But some of his songs only he should sing... flat or not.



Kris Kristofferson.

Taibbi on Palin's America - "Ouch . . . . "

Matt Taibbi's piece in tomorrow's Rolling Stone is one fine example of writing.

If you thought Kathleen Parker and Heather Mallick's articles were tough, you ain't seen nuthin' yet.

A few choice excerpts:

Mad Dog Palin

The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America

MATT TAIBBI - Posted Oct 02, 2008

_______________


Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in return for the total surrender of our political power. Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV — and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way. All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.

______________


But watching Palin's speech, I had no doubt that I was witnessing a historic, iconic performance. The candidate sauntered to the lectern with the assurance of a sleepwalker — and immediately launched into a symphony of snorting and sneering remarks, taking time out in between the superior invective to present herself as just a humble gal with a beefcake husband and a brood of healthy, combat-ready spawn who just happened to be the innocent targets of a communist and probably also homosexual media conspiracy. She appeared to be completely without shame and utterly full of shit, awing a room full of hardened reporters with her sickly-sweet line about the high-school-flame-turned-hubby who, "five children later," is "still my guy." It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag.

_______________


Here's what Sarah Palin represents: being a fat fucking pig who pins "Country First" buttons on his man titties and chants "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at the top of his lungs while his kids live off credit cards and Saudis buy up all the mortgages in Kansas.

The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.


Taibbi's analysis of the US electorate is brutally frank.

It's also frighteningly accurate . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Tancredo knows what the real problem is

"We need to ensure that the ‘American Dream’ remains within reach of American families – and that means enacting some long overdue safeguards that prevent illegal aliens and their unscrupulous allies in the financial industry from undermining its integrity."

Seriously, someone should take Tom Tancredo and Lou Dobbs, load them in the back of a pick-up truck, give them a liter of Evian and some beef jerky, drive them out to the middle of the Sonoran desert and leave them there.

Ahhh, if Dennis Were President . . . .

Things would no doubt be quite different.

Here he is on Rachel Maddow last night:





It's for principled stands like this that we supported him while he was an active candidate.

Too bad other "informed" voters didn't agree . . . .

(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

Attack of the Clones - introducing Stephen Harper

CP : "Harper speech lifted from Aussie PM makes worldwide headlines"

Gosh, world stage again.

UK Press : "Harper spokesman Kory Teneycke said the speech was five years old and they were not going to be drawn into a discussion of issues that have no relevance to Canadians. "

Election debate today, buddy.

A timely reminder, I'd say. 'Coalition of the willing' and all that.

In some places this would be called "Terrorism"

Here... it's the truth. From ACR