“We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the ‘Lion’s Market,’ or God’s control over the economic systems."(h/t to Wonkette by way of Pharyngula)
I was watching the local news tonight, and they had a segment on kidney stones in children. From Johns Hopkins Medical:Kidney stones in children-considered all but a medical aberration until recently-are now becoming a fairly common condition. It’s a growing and disturbing trend that has pediatricians at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and around the country, sounding the alarm.However:
While doctors have yet to quantify the precise increase and tease out the factors behind it-better detection devices probably play some role-pediatricians agree that too much salt and too little drinking water in children’s diets are probably the main culprits.
“More and more children with kidney stones are coming to us,” says kidney specialist Alicia Neu, M.D., co-director of the kidney stone clinic at the Children’s Center. “While this is somewhat unexpected, it is not totally surprising given that so many other conditions are on the rise in children due to poor diet, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity to name a few.”
You see, in the US, it's always your fault. Your children should be on a lettuce and water diet and move constantly 12 hours a day, and if not, any illness they encounter is your fault.
Now the segment started by highlighting this problem. From Wikipedia:
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal is a food safety incident in mainland People's Republic of China involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, which had been adulterated with melamine. With mainland China's wide range of export food products, the scandal has affected countries on all continents. By the end of September, an estimated 94,000 victims have been claimed;[1] four infants have died from kidney stones and other kidney damage.[2][3] The chemical appeared to have been added to milk in order to cause it to appear to have a higher protein content. The same chemical was also involved in a series of pet food recalls in 2007. In a separate incident, watered-down milk resulted in 13 infant deaths from malnutrition in mainland China in 2004.[4]
Let me pull a sentence out of that:
By the end of September, an estimated 94,000 victims have been claimed;[1] four infants have died from kidney stones and other kidney damage.[2][3]
So when children get kidney stones here, it's all because we're idiots who don't read or listen to the news or to our doctors. All of a sudden our children are eating massive amounts of salty foods, just over the past few years, even though they have been beating us over the head with the idea that our kids eat too much junk and are blowing up like balloons. Parents are all clearly dumb f*cks who just don't listen
But when it happens in Asia, it's the result of contaminated food products.
Again, from Wikipedia:Chinese protein export contamination was first identified after the wide recall of many brands of cat and dog food starting in March 2007 (the 2007 pet food recalls), and eventually involved the human food supply. The recalls in North America, Europe and South Africa came in response to reports of kidney failure in pets. Initially the recalls were associated with the consumption of mostly wet pet foods made with wheat gluten from a single Chinese company. In the following weeks, several other companies who received the contaminated wheat gluten also voluntarily recalled dozens of pet food brands. One month after the initial recall, contaminated rice protein from a different source in China was also identified as being associated with kidney failure in pets in the United States, while contaminated corn gluten was associated with kidney failure with pets in South Africa.
The Chinese government was initially slow to respond. Both government officials and manufacturers went so far as to deny that vegetable protein was even exported from China and refused for weeks to allow foreign food safety investigators to enter the country.[1][2] Ultimately, the Chinese government acknowledged that contamination had occurred and arrested the managers of two protein manufacturers identified so far and took other measures to improve food safety and product quality.[3]
The first and most easily identified contaminant in the vegetable protein is melamine. However, melamine is not considered to be especially dangerous to animals or humans, and so investigators have continued to examine the role of other contaminants found to be present in the proteins, including cyanuric acid. Current research has focused on the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in causing renal failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely-used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both pet and human health.[4]
If it's not harmful to humans, why were those babies getting sick? Turns out it is harmful to one type of human, babies and young children.
The US FDA said that while in general, food containing melamine below 2.5 parts per million did not raise concerns, its scientists were "currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."[203]
On October 3, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that up to 2.5 parts per million of melamine was safe for adults, but declined to set a standard for children. The FDA also implied it would not permit the sale of food deliberately adulterated (rather than accidentally contaminated) with melamine.[33] Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, Chairwoman of the House subcommitee which oversees the Food and Drug Administration subcommittee, said anything less than zero tolerance would not protect consumers.[34] DeLauro criticised the FDA's "acceptable level for melamine in food" was an insult to consumers, and would give the impression that the FDA was condoning intentional contamination.[35]
Note the date on that. Not quite a month ago.
And now the problems have been growing
The search widened when some manufacturers reported not using Chinese milk. The Sri Lankan manufacturer of Munchee Lemon Puff biscuits tested positive in Switzerland categorically stated that its milk powder or milk products were sourced only from Australia, Holland and Canada;[171] similarly, Pokka products without milk or its derivatives from China were found by Vietnamese authorities to be contaminated.[198]
Baking powder
Malaysian authorities determined that ammonium bicarbonate, not milk, imported from China was the source of contamination at Khong Guan and Khian Guan.[141] On 19 October, 2008 Taiwanese authorities detected melamine in 469 tons of baking ammonia imported from China. Samples tested showed up to 2,470ppm of melamine.[199] The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore has ordered importers and retailers to withdraw all Malaysia-made Julie's brand of biscuits taken off their shelves. This was after AVA detected the industrial chemical melamine in 12 Julie's biscuit products imported from Malaysia.
Chicken and eggs
Japanese and South Korean authorities' tests on imported egg powder from China found melamine contamination. Japan found melamine in frozen fried chicken imported from China.[200] The South Korean supplies were traced to two companies in Dalian.[201]. On 26 October, Hong Kong authorities discovered 4.7ppm melamine in eggs produced in Dalian.[29] Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health, York Chow, suspected the melamine came from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs.[202][29] On 29 October Hong Kong authorities announced that tests done on eggs imported from Jingshan Pengchang Agricultural Product Co. of China's central Hubei province found an excessive amount of melamine. The melamine concentration for the Jinshan eggs contained melamine of 2.9 parts per million.
On 28 October, 2008 Wal-Mart stores in China also began removing Kekeda brand eggs, produced by Hanwei Group. On 29 October, 2008 the Taiwanese Department of Health said that protein powder imported from China was found to contain 1.90 parts per million (ppm) to 5.03ppm of melamine. This is announced after randomly testing 13 batches of protein powder, six of which were contaminated with melamine. The companies that produced the powder were Jilin Jinyi Egg Products Co Ltd and Dalian Green Snow Egg Product Co, Ltd.
In October 2008, "Select Fresh Brown Eggs" imported to Hong Kong from the Hanwei Group in Dalian in northeastern China, were found to be contaminated with nearly twice the legal limit of melamine. York Chow, the health secretary of Hong Kong, said he thought animal feeds might be the source of the contamination and announced that the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety would henceforward be testing all mainland Chinese pork, farmed fish, animal feed, chicken meat, eggs, and offal products for melamine. [55]
Yes, the melamine got into fresh chicken and fresh eggs via contaminated chicken feed. It looks to me like it concentrates up the food chain. They also found it in baking powder. Both of those were found this month.
So, what are we supposed to do, especially if you're like me, trying for a pregnancy in the coming months and wanting to do what's best for your children?
Breastfeed. Then spend a lot more on groceries.
Buy fresh local, for one thing. It doesn't have to be organic, I called Umpqua, our regional dairy and asked them about glutens in their products. All the stuff they use is produced in the US, period. And preferably in Oregon. When you can't buy local buy organic, most of those farmers are smaller, and will answer questions if you call. Produce your own baked goods, breads, cookies, crackers from wheat products you know to be grown and processed in the US. For everything else, follow a gluten free diet. It's a pain, no doubt about it, but people with celiac disease follow it all the time, and they manage. I'll have a couple of links on what to look out for at the end.
In October 2008, the U.S. FDA issued new methods for the analysis of melamine and cyanuric acid in infant formulations in the Laboratory Information Bulletin No 4421 [56]. Similar recommendations have been issued by other authorities, like the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare [57], both based on LC MS/MS detection after HILIC separation [58]Funny how that timing works. Note, that just says infant formulas.
Just remember, if you don't have celiac disease, or any other medical reason for avoiding gluten in particular, you can eat wheat and baked good. What you need to do for your children is keep them away from gluten manufactured in China, since melamine contamination appears to be more common than the government or the media is letting on.. Since there's no way to tell from reading labels if the gluten in processed foods came from China, all you can do is avoid it all together.
I don't know what to do about baking powder. But that's a minimal thing in any diet.
Just remember, even if a food product is assembled in the US, it's components may have come from China.They keep saying parents aren't feeding their children responsibly, well, maybe it's time we did.
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Looks like Raani/Janine over at baptisthomeschooling blog has decided to make her blog invitation only. Well, good. That's one less spot of hatred, terrorist support, fear-mongering and rabble-rousing to be found by a search engine. 
Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Found at www.ou.eduBrian Williams: Back to the notion of terrorists and terrorism, this word has come up in relation to Mr. Ayers -- hanging out with terrorist – domestic terrorists. It is said that it gives it a vaguely post uh 9-11 hint, using that word, that we don’t normally associate with domestic crimes. Are we changing the definition? Are the people who set fire to American cities during the ‘60’s terrorists, under this definition? Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under the definition?
Sarah Palin: There is no question that Bill Ayers via his own admittance was um one who sought to destroy our US Capitol and our Pentagon -- that is a domestic terrorist. There’s no question there. Now others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or um facilities, that uh, it would be unacceptable -- I don’t know if you could use the word terrorist, but its unacceptable and it would not be condoned of course on our watch. I don’t know if what you are asking is if I regret referring to Bill Ayers as an unrepentant domestic terrorist. I don’t regret characterizing him as that.
Brian Williams: I’m just asking what other categories you would put in there. Abortion clinic bombers? Protesters in cities where fires were started, Molotov cocktails, were thrown? People died.
Sarah Palin: I would put in that category of Bill Ayers anyone else who would seek to destroy our United States Capitol and our Pentagon and would seek to destroy innocent Americans.
Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American radical described by the FBI as a terrorist who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States which killed two people and injured at least 150 others.
Rudolph declared that his bombings were part of a guerrilla campaign against abortion and what he describes as "the homosexual agenda." He spent years as the FBI's most wanted criminal fugitive, but was eventually caught. In 2005 Rudolph pleaded guilty to numerous federal and state homicide charges and accepted five consecutive life sentences in exchange for avoiding a trial and the death penalty. Rudolph was connected with the white supremacist Christian Identity movement. Although he has denied that his crimes were religiously or racially motivated, Rudolph has also called himself a Roman Catholic in "the war to end this holocaust" (of abortion).
James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954) is an American citizen who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 sniper-style murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an Amherst, New York physician who performed abortions. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 7, 1999 he had become the 455th fugitive placed on the list by the FBI. He was affiliated with anti-abortion group "The Lambs of Christ." He has been referred to as a terrorist by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.
Letters left at the scene of an April 1996 bank robbery/clinic bombing in Spokane, Washington, contained Identity propaganda, diatribes against the banking system and were signed with the symbol of the "Phineas Priesthood." [At the time of the robbery, a bomb was set off at a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic as a diversion, with death threats toward abortion providers contained in the note left with that bomb.] The three men arrested, Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Jay Merrell, were linked to white supremacist and "Identity" groups and were also charged with setting off bombs at a newspaper office and a Planned Parenthood clinic. All three were convicted.
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was a United States Army veteran and security guard who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on the second anniversary of the Waco Siege, as revenge against what he considered to be a tyrannical federal government. The bombing killed 168 people, and was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Yes, apparently because Tim McVey was a Christian, and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was neither the Capitol nor the Pentagon and because he was protesting abortion, his actions were completely acceptable.
Buford O'Neal Furrow, Jr. (born November 25, 1961) perpetrated the August 1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting on August 10, 1999, when he attacked a day care center at the North Valley Jewish Community Center. The shooting injured three children, and a receptionist. He also shot dead US Postal Service carrier Joseph Ileto who was Filipino American. Furrow was a member of the white-supremacist group Aryan Nations in 1995.
On January 24, 2001 Furrow pleaded guilty all of the counts against him. In exchange for pleading guilty, Furrow avoided a possible death sentence, but was instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to the indictment, Furrow expressed no regrets for any of his crimes.
Baptists as a percentage of all residents, 2000. From the website of the Geography 200 class at Valparaiso UniversityWe are an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible only, separated Baptist church and not ashamed to say so.That's nice.
According to the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, violent crime rates across the board have declined continuously since 1994, reaching the lowest level ever in 2005.7
Child abduction rates—always infinitesimal—continue to fall. Rates of violent crime against children have fallen by nearly 50 percent since 1973. The child murder rate is the lowest in forty years.9
Odds of any given child being abducted by a stranger in any given year: 1 in 1,000,000
Odds of that child being killed by a world-ending meteor in any given year: 1 in 20,00010
7www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/gvc.htm#Violence
8www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
10“A Fistful of Risks,” Discover Magazine, April 1996.
Kevin Ogle, pastor of Northgate Colonial Baptist Church in Camden, GA, pleaded guilty in May to 15 counts of sexual exploitation on the Internet. A deacon for the church said, "A pastor is human just like everybody else is."
From Wikipedia.com
© Lisa F. Young | Dreamstime.com 
Here are some tips to make sure your tribute is a respectful one:- Display the flag only between sunrise and sunset on buildings and stationary flagstaffs. The flag may be displayed for twenty-four hours if illuminated in darkness.
- Do not display the flag in inclement weather.
- Whether displaying the flag vertically or horizontally, make sure the canton of stars is visible on the upper left-hand side.
- Do not let the flag touch the ground.
- The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
- Before flying a flag at half-staff, hoist to its peak for an instant before lowering it.
- When displayed against a wall with another flag, their staffs crossed, the American flag should be on the right of the other flag (on the viewer's left), with its staff on top of that of the other flag.
- When flags of states, cities, or localities are flown on the same halyard with the United States flag, the national flag should always be at the top. No other flag should be placed above, or if on the same level, to the flag's right.
- When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they should be flown from separate staffs of equal height. The flags should be of approximately equal size.
- When the flag is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle, the canton should be placed at the peak of the staff.
- An unusable flag that is damaged and worn and can no longer be displayed should be destroyed in a dignified way by burning.
- When not on display, the flag should be respectfully folded into a triangle, symbolizing the tricorn hats worn by colonial soldiers in the Revolutionary War.
First Published: July/August 1999
And when not in use, the flag should be folded like so:
When not on display, the United States flag should be folded into a triangle, emblematic of the three-cornered hats worn by Colonial soldiers in the Revolutionary War. It takes two people to do it properly, as the flag should never touch the ground during any lowering or folding.
1. Both people should hold out the flag waist high, with its surface parallel to the ground. Fold the flag in half lengthwise, bringing the striped lower section over the canton (the blue field of stars).
2. Fold it again lengthwise, bringing the canton to the outside.
3. Start a triangular fold by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge up to meet the open edge. The outer point is then turned inward to form a second triangle. Continue folding the flag in this manner seven more times.
4. The last triangular fold brings the red and white stripes into the star-strewn blue field, symbolizing the day's light vanishing into the darkness of the night. When the flag is completely folded, only the blue field and stars should be visible. Tuck the remaining flap into the pocket formed between the stars and stripes.
First Published: July/August 1998
(Images from MarthaStewart.com. I don't think she'd mind)I learned about care and handling of the US flag in Boy Scouts with reinforcement through years of military HS, college ROTC and active duty in the Air Force. The minimally acceptable handling with this (if unable to actually lower the flag in a traditional fashion), would be to have folks stationed to catch the flag as the pole is brought down, keeping it from brushing the ground.
But lowering it in a traditional fashion and folding it with an honor guard would have been far better. They couldn’t find a local VFW/American Legion/High School ROTC detachment/Police Honor Guard/Boy Scout or Girl Scout Troop to deal with this? Boy McCain folks must REALLY hate America
I followed Reclamation Mama's links back to her utterly gorgeous blog, and then to the Christmas counter she uses. Because as anyone who makes their own gifts knows, it's coming up, and it's coming up fast.
photo © Adrian van Leen for openphoto.net CC:PublicDomainOf course, fags like to prey on little kids, which is why they like to have babies via IVF. Tell that to all the supposed Christians who run to the fertility clinic because after popping the pill their whole life they are shocked if they can't get pregnant suddenly on their own timetable. Thank you for supporting and financing the medical science that goes into giving gays access to innocent victims.And thank you for spreading the lies around. Got any proof of this one?
| 3 | And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? |
| 4 | Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? |
| 5 | Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. |
But wait, Clay himself supposedly claims to be a Christian. Well, he can say that all he wants, but he is a reprobate. Wouldn't be the first one I met who tries to say they are saved, either.Last I read the bible (And I have, cover to cover, twice.) God was the one who decided who was saved. And then only after you're dead. And Christ was really big on being kind to everyone, tax collectors, lepers, prostitutes. As I recalled He said anyone who believed in him was saved. Period.
| 1 | Judge not, that ye be not judged. |
| 2 | For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again |
No comments on this post. I don't care what all you fag-loving liberals think, I wish you would stop reading my blog anyway.Fine. My comments are open.
| 15 | ¶ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. |
| 16 | Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? |
| 17 | Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. |
| 18 | A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. |
| 19 | Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Mt. 3.10 · Lk. 3.9 |
| 20 | Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Mt. 12.33 |
photo © Michael Jastremski for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlikeA friend recently sent me this article about a "gay-friendly" high school. If we were living in a biblical society, homosexuality would be punishable by death so such a school would be unnecessary. Although I'm against the special accommodations, perhaps this new trend of segregation will protect straight kids from these predators. With any luck, some radical will blow up the gay school. No, I'm not condoning vigilantism--I'm merely saying that it would be poetic justice.No, Christian's don't force their beliefs on anyone. They just hope and more than likely pray for terrorist acts and the deaths of the children of parents who don't agree with them.
In the Old Testament, God commanded that Sodomites be put to death. (Leviticus 20:13 KJV). Throughout the Old Testament we read about good kings who removed the Sodomites out of the land and bad kings who did not. The New Testament teaches that homosexuals have been turned over to a reprobate mind.(Romans 1, etc.) It's sad that they did not get saved while they still could, but unfortunately it is too late for them. Did you know that God actually hates some people? The Bible says God hated Esau. Try reading the Bible from cover to cover and maybe you will better understand God's holiness.I know there is good in the bible, there must be. But really, things like this make me want to toss my copies and ban it from my home simply for the evil it contains and produces.
Since there is no hope for gays, we would be better off without them. They are recruiters and not reproducers so the safest solution would be the death penalty.
Some commented that only God avenges, but human beings have been commanded to enforce the death penalty throughout the Bible. The United States does not adhere to many of the laws that the children of Israel lived by, but since they are God's laws, we know that they are the ideal. Like I said, I don't advocate vigilantism, and we have to obey "the powers that be" in our imperfect society.
The purpose of my post was simply to warn parents of the dangers of sending their kids to public schools where homosexuality runs rampant.No dear. The purpose of your post was to encourage vigilantism and terrorism. You may be a Christian and not a Muslim, but your post was no better than the ones sent to Al Jazerra. You are condoning and encouraging acts of violence, and the blood spilled will be on your hands, not on some mythical deity in the sky. Yours and every so-called "good Christian" like you.
photo © anna for openphoto.net CC:Attribution-ShareAlikeTopic: Memos Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 9/5/2003 1:06:35 PM
Title: Slate publisher's memo re losing staff to NYT
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
TO: Brad Smith
Sr. Vice President, Microsoft Legal & Corporate Affairs
FROM: Cyrus Krohn
Publisher, Slate Magazine
RE: Non-Compete Clause & Contractual Interference
Dear Brad:
As per my voicemail earlier today, I would like to bring to your attention an ongoing problem we're experiencing at Slate.
A prominent East Coast newspaper, The New York Times, has been poaching from Slate, taking key writers and editors invaluable to our evolving franchise. Several years ago I viewed these departures as testament to Slate's reputation within our industry. Being recognized by the media establishment as a breeding ground of top journalists was rewarding. But no longer do I hold these egress offenders in such high regard.
Granted the New York Times has been experiencing talent problems of their own lately, but that's no excuse to "brain drain" us. In my seven years with Slate, I've seen the Times make off with no fewer than five Slatesters. And just last week, they tried to hire away our esteemed editor-in-chief, Jacob Weisberg, according to this item in the New York Post. While the opportunity offered Weisberg was beneath his abilities, I'm thankful he didn't follow his former colleagues.
Our mantra at Slate is to support budding journalists growing in their profession. Should a better opportunity present itself, by all means go forward. But this trend must cease. Our staff are bound by the non-compete clause they signed upon employment, and I was wondering if you could spare some time for Slate now that the DOJ case is behind us? This tortuous contractual interference is beginning to have adverse effects on us.
It's improbable we'll be able to recoup our losses. But just in case, we'd like all of them back except for Paul Krugman.
I appreciate your help and look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully,
Cyrus
Question Mark Art, Stuttgart Museum of Art © -bast-
Your result for The Bem Sex Role Inventory Test...
photo © Adrian van Leen for openphoto.net CC:PublicDomain...Read more at the NY Times
Officials have called the abandonments a misuse of a new law that was mainly intended to prevent so-called Dumpster babies — the abandonment of newborns by young, terrified mothers — but instead has been used to hand off out-of-control teenagers or, in the case of the father of 10, to escape financial and personal despair.
The spate of abandonments has prompted an outcry about parental irresponsibility and pledges to change the state law, which allows care givers to drop off children without fear of prosecution. But it has also cast a spotlight on the hidden extent of family turmoil in the country and what many experts say is a shortage of respite care, counseling and especially psychiatric services to help parents in dire need.
Some who work with troubled children add that economic conditions, like stagnant low-end wages and the epidemic of foreclosures, may make the situation worse, adding layers of worry and conflict.
...
