What can I say? Brothers just can't get along. Jealousy stays deep. And he gets earful from his son. I'm hoping these pseudo minister-politicians just keep their words at their congregations instead of cable news network. Well, cable news just keep dragging those words out of congregations anyway. Who's to blame? It's good ole dirty dirty.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Getting into General Election mode
The political scene starts buzzing again after a short hiatus from Dem. Primary. Gramm is trying to dodge bullets or get hit all the shots in front of McCain. What he said is more elitist than Obama's bittergate back in SF IMHO. Gramm is trying to say the leaders are whiners but it sure doesn't make a lot of sense. So he had two feet in his mouths and all McCain can do is just reject. It will be the start of the GE. It will be nasty and entertaining at the same time. Take those sound bites and punditries as entertainment unless you have monetary or career stake on any candidate.
Random thoughts on July 10th, 2008
There are three things that look deceptively easy in life; politics, sports, and stock market. It's very easy to observe and comment on all three categories until one decides to play.
I read an article yesterday about Korean national soccer team. The reporter asked to a former coach why the current team cannot capitalize on many good chances and people are getting really upset about this team. What he said rung truth: "We have had those criticisms for the last 40 years. It's not something new. There are too many experts on how to win games in the country. " It's so true that I grew up watching and screaming onto the TV screen how stupid those players miss and how the coaches' strategies are idiotic at best, etc. I did not know much about the game of soccer then nor do I know more now after decades.
The same logic applies to politics and stock market. They are deceptively too easy to grasp on surface yet once you start playing yourself, you quickly realize you are just like everyone else. It's not that easy to do certain things your way until you gain deep and wide understanding as well as handle brisk executions. The rule of 10 or more like 1% applies here as well. The problem is most people think they can crack 1% when they never even cracked 1% in their tiny high schools (I tip my hat to those who do crack 1% including 4 TD Al Bundy). People sound like gaining all those pounds and years worth pork chops would somehow make them smarter and wiser. Not necessarily so.
Anyway, the thought just started after reading about Bill Miller's horrific record this year as the lead cheerleader. He bet enormously successfully for a long time until a few years ago and now he bet enormously unsuccessfully by betting on Financials and not betting on oil. Could someone easily say he is dumb now? Yeah, I bet a lot of people say that now but it just shows playing the market (regardless what the strategies are, values, growth, voodoo, horoscope, etc) is not like making worthless comments on what he should have done. Sure it's fun to poke at the guy who fell but sure it's no fun if it were you.
I'm sure as heck there are tons of experts out there but I happen to find the real one with rarity. Again, 1% rule of finding the real one applies anywhere in life.
I read an article yesterday about Korean national soccer team. The reporter asked to a former coach why the current team cannot capitalize on many good chances and people are getting really upset about this team. What he said rung truth: "We have had those criticisms for the last 40 years. It's not something new. There are too many experts on how to win games in the country. " It's so true that I grew up watching and screaming onto the TV screen how stupid those players miss and how the coaches' strategies are idiotic at best, etc. I did not know much about the game of soccer then nor do I know more now after decades.
The same logic applies to politics and stock market. They are deceptively too easy to grasp on surface yet once you start playing yourself, you quickly realize you are just like everyone else. It's not that easy to do certain things your way until you gain deep and wide understanding as well as handle brisk executions. The rule of 10 or more like 1% applies here as well. The problem is most people think they can crack 1% when they never even cracked 1% in their tiny high schools (I tip my hat to those who do crack 1% including 4 TD Al Bundy). People sound like gaining all those pounds and years worth pork chops would somehow make them smarter and wiser. Not necessarily so.
Anyway, the thought just started after reading about Bill Miller's horrific record this year as the lead cheerleader. He bet enormously successfully for a long time until a few years ago and now he bet enormously unsuccessfully by betting on Financials and not betting on oil. Could someone easily say he is dumb now? Yeah, I bet a lot of people say that now but it just shows playing the market (regardless what the strategies are, values, growth, voodoo, horoscope, etc) is not like making worthless comments on what he should have done. Sure it's fun to poke at the guy who fell but sure it's no fun if it were you.
I'm sure as heck there are tons of experts out there but I happen to find the real one with rarity. Again, 1% rule of finding the real one applies anywhere in life.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Visited Anthony Chabot Regional Part
Spent a day at a camp ground with a couple we knew for a long time. We bbq'ed and hiked to the nearby reservoir and watched fireworks far far away. Nice day and nice weather. Life was good for a day.
Visit: Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Visited Carmel beach over the last weekend
Very nice visiting Carmel beach. Very liberal, rich area. I saw two cars side by side with Pomona College plates. Where else would you be able to see those plates other than super rich wine area? Lots of arts, paintings, sceneries, nature. Visit: http://www.carmel.com/
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Boy, Cali is in trouble.....
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Courtesy of Bloomberg
California Under Schwarzenegger Underperforms Davis (Update2)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&refer=home&sid=afzm9oISTASQ
Courtesy of Bloomberg
California Under Schwarzenegger Underperforms Davis (Update2)
By Michael B. Marois
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- It costs California taxpayers more to borrow now than under former Governor Gray Davis, the man Arnold Schwarzenegger helped oust and succeeded in an unprecedented recall fueled by the state's sagging finances.
As the most populous U.S. state, with a gross domestic product that's No. 8 in the world, California is so strapped for cash that it must consider a short-term, $10 billion loan to cover its bills. The widening deficit means the financing may be about 0.85 percentage point more expensive than five years ago, when Davis lost his job over a budget gap twice as large as the $17 billion deficit the state now faces. That's an added $8.5 million on every $1 billion borrowed.
While banks also are charging as much as four times more for lines of credit to back the debt, the state's plight can't all be blamed on Schwarzenegger any more than he could blame Davis five years ago.
``We confront a more volatile mix of fiscal, political and market challenges than we faced in 2003,'' California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, said in an e-mailed response to questions. ``The new ingredient is turmoil in capital and credit markets. And every additional dollar we shell out to Wall Street is a dollar we can't spend on educating our kids, providing health care for our families and keeping our communities clean and safe.''
Housing Slump
California, more than any other state, is reeling from the worst housing market in a generation just as it was hit hardest by the Internet stock bust seven years ago. The state also is a victim of a national economy that shows few signs of rebounding. Faster inflation, a falling dollar and a growing budget gap are causing investors to demand higher yields on everything from U.S. bonds to Pfizer Inc.'s AAA corporate debt.
Average yields on top-rated state and local government bonds due in 30 years touched 5.08 percent last week, the highest since June 2004 and up from the low this year of 4.19 percent on Jan. 23, according to Concord, Massachusetts-based research firm Municipal Market Advisors.
Spending by states on schools, roads and other public programs may rise by the smallest amount since 2003 in the next budget year as the slowing economy curbs tax collections, the National Association of State Budget Officers and the National Governors Association said in a report released June 19. The projected 1 percent increase compares with the 5.1 percent jump this fiscal year.
`Farther and Faster'
``The housing market has come down farther and faster in most states than anyone predicted and that's led to larger revenue shortfalls than anyone was predicting,'' said Emily Raimes, an assistant vice president with Moody's Investors Service in New York.
Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell to an annual rate of 4.89 million in April, the lowest in at least nine years, according to the National Association of Realtors in Washington. The Commerce Department said June 26 that the economy grew at a 1 percent annual pace in the first quarter, capping the weakest six-month expansion in five years.
The Federal Reserve is signaling that it may need to raise its target rate for overnight loans between banks this year even as the economy slows because inflation is accelerating. Policy makers on June 25 kept the benchmark federal funds rate at 2 percent, ending the most aggressive easing of monetary policy in two decades, and said in a statement that ``the upside risks to inflation and inflation expectations have increased.''
Budget Deficits
At the same time inflation is quickening, the Treasury and local governments are stepping up borrowing amid expanding budget deficits. The U.S. government's shortfall for May totaled $165.9 billion, more than in all of fiscal 2007.
California, as the biggest borrower in the $2.66 trillion municipal market, bears the brunt of investor discord.
The state sold $1.5 billion of bonds last week, paying 5.3 percent on the portion due in 30 years, up from 4.78 percent on similar securities issued a year ago, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Investors demand 23 basis points more in yield to own 30-year California general obligation bonds instead of top- rated debt than they did a year ago, Municipal Market Advisors says. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
``There are some concerns on their budget, like a lot of municipalities right now,'' said Eric Boeckmann, a money manager at Chicago-based Northern Trust Co.
Different Market
While long-term debt costs are on the rise under Schwarzenegger, they're still less than they were under Davis, when investors demanded an average 44 basis points more yield than top-rated municipal debt to buy the state's 30-year bonds, according to Bloomberg and Municipal Market Advisors. That's cold comfort to Schwarzenegger as he faces higher costs to access money short term.
``There's no question that we're working in a totally different capital market,'' said H.D. Palmer, Schwarzenegger's finance spokesman.
California's planned sale of $10 billion in revenue anticipation notes, used by governments to cover expenses until tax receipts arrive later in the year, would be the state's largest short-term loan since its borrowing in 2003. Yields on top-rated one-year municipal notes have climbed 85 basis points to 1.69 percent since June 2003, according to a Bond Buyer index.
Under Davis
Back then, Davis was removed from office following an unprecedented recall campaign. The state in 2002 had suffered its worst one-year decline in tax revenue since World War II as the economy slowed and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 23 percent.
It didn't help Davis that voters were still blaming him for the state's 2000 and 2001 energy crisis, in which Enron Corp. and other energy traders were accused of gaming the state's partially deregulated grid by withholding power to create artificial shortages. That led to seven days of rolling blackouts and left taxpayers with $43 billion of long-term contracts to buy electricity at above-market prices.
Under Schwarzenegger, a 60-year-old Republican, California began 2007 without a budget deficit for the first time in six years. By the end of the year, he was forced to declare a fiscal emergency.
The state borrowed $7 billion through short-term notes last October. Three months later Schwarzenegger ordered mid-year budget cuts and $3.2 billion of further borrowing to plug a gap that swelled to $14 billion in one year.
California may need letters of credit or other backing for its short-term loans from banks just as lenders are raising their fees and pulling back on their lending.
No Bargains
The average cost of a backstop such as a standby purchase agreement or letter of credit is 1 percentage point of the amount of bonds being sold, said Matt Fabian, an analyst at Municipal Market Advisors. That's up from about a quarter- percentage point a year ago.
``I don't think anyone is real optimistic that we are going to get a great bargain out there,'' said Paul Rosenstiel, the head of California's public finance division.
California lawmakers say they likely won't reach agreement on a new budget before the start of the fiscal year tomorrow. They remain deadlocked over whether to raise taxes or cut spending to eliminate the deficit.
If a budget is passed by the end of July, the state would sell the short-term notes around the beginning of September. A prolonged stalemate, like the one last year that lasted until the third week of August, would force California to sell revenue anticipation warrants, a more expensive type of short-term loan that can be repaid over two years.
``The credit access now is the big question mark,'' said California Controller John Chiang, a Democrat.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael B. Marois in Sacramento at mmarois@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 30, 2008 11:23 EDT>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&refer=home&sid=afzm9oISTASQ
Huffington Post sucks!!!!
I used to read their articles but I realized it is the same mass controlling news site. My posts are promptly removed from the site. My guess is that my posts in the past hit their filters and my ID got tagged with removal list. I don't know how they do this but I saw other people also complain about it as well. It's deliberate efforts to control the flow of ideas and I really hate those sites including CNN. Anyway, you can't find anything other than liberal propaganda just as Fox only shows the other side. At least Fox is like a comic. People like HuffPost think they are so smart and high above the world but in the end it's the same beast on the other side. I will avoid CNN, FOX, HuffPost, DailyKos, etc as much as possible. Stay informed and balanced.
Update: I found a youtube video that says the same thing.
Update: I found a youtube video that says the same thing.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Finally hopped in nice slate green one
We finally purchased a 2008 Honda Odyssey and it sure looks and feels nice. Now time to pay next 3 years with egregious amount of monthly payment. Dang!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
N. Korea's dear leader gets a boat load of money from Mr. Bush
Bush getting hammered by his own party and gets praise from Obama. Who is really leading the country right now?
Supreme Court hammers DC gun control
Many details:
Supreme Court Blog
Handgun companies rally on Supreme Court decision: Mo money, Mo guns.
Dissing Kobe?
Yeah, the big boy has 4 and Kobe with 3 and none is on his own. Still, he is one of the top two best players out of 60 Billion wannabes.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Looking to buy Honda Odyssey 2008 by .....
Please vote when I can get this done. A Jamba Juice treat.
Nell - Time that walks memories
Nice easy going one if you can understand the lyrics...... The song is about remembering fond memories of the past relationship.
Mr. McCain and Internet
Okay, I understand he is a bit old but can he get with some flow?
Some improvement. At least he is aware of internet now. Good progress!!!
Profits thump safety any time…..
Meat wars: Why are those wacky Koreans dissin’ our beef?
By Mike Whitney
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jun 23, 2008, 00:13
Email this article
Printer friendly page
You wouldn’t know it from reading the newspapers, but the streets of Seoul are packed with tens of thousands of angry protesters who’ve brought business and government to a grinding halt. The demonstrations have dragged on for more than a month and show no sign of ending anytime soon. President Lee Myung-Bak’s decision to lift the ban on US beef imports has set off a political firestorm that is likely to bring down the government and put the kibosh on free trade agreements for years to come.
Last Tuesday, the powerful Korean Confederation of Trade Unions threatened to call a general strike if the meat-deal with Washington was not rescinded. If the unions strike, the whole capital will shut down. That’s why the politicians are scrambling for solutions.
South Korea suspended the purchase of US beef in 2003 after an incident of mad cow was reported in Washington state. Many Koreans still don’t believe the government’s assurances that the meat is safe and they may have a point. According to the LA Times the USDA tests less than 1 percent of cattle. (USDA Mad Cow Madness” LA Times) In contrast, Japan tests every cow that enters the food chain.
Also, according to the Associated Press, “Restricted imports of U.S. beef reached South Korean supermarkets last year, but further shipments were put on hold in October after banned parts, such as bones, were found in a shipment.
Scientists believe mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.”
The Myung-Bak administration is being strong-armed by the Bush team to ignore the massive protests and honor the terms of the trade agreement. It’s a “lose-lose” situation for the Korean president who can either incur the wrath of the corporate oligarchs by caving in or commit political seppuku by shrugging off the demands of his people. Either way, Lee’s career is kaput; he’ll never survive the fallout.
According to AFP, “Seoul insists it cannot meet protesters’ demands to renegotiate the beef deal, saying it would jeopardize a separate, wider free trade agreement and cast doubt on South Korea’s good faith as a negotiator. . . . The US apparently fears any official endorsement would breach World Trade Organization rules.”
Right; “a deal is a deal;” what were they thinking? How could they expect to bend the rules for something as trivial as public safety? So on with the protests, on with the strike. The whole issue of free trade is now precariously balanced on a few pounds of sketchy brisket.
The media has done a first-rate job of diverting attention from the the central issue of whether meat is safe or not by characterizing the protests as “frustration with President Lee”. This is just more nonsense to protect the beef industry. In reality, people everywhere want to be sure that what they put in their mouths is safe to eat. The lack of confidence in US beef imports has struck a nerve in the publics consciousness, sending thousands of Koreans into the streets shouting slogans and waving fists. But is their rage is justified?
According to Martha Rosenberg, “Seven people have died from probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the US in the last nine months . . . Do trade officials know something we don’t know?”
She reported, “In May, the Bush administration urged a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, KS-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct advanced mad cow testing on its animals–presumably because it would raise consumer questions and make other packers look bad.
“This is the government telling the consumers, ‘You’re not entitled to this information,’” protested Creekstone attorney Russell Frye, according to the AP, a charge also heard in March when USDA refused to name companies selling 143 million pounds of recalled Westland/Hallmark beef because the information was “proprietary.” [Meat Wars with South Korea, Martha Rosenberg]
Hmmmm. So, why is the Bush administration so surprised that foreigners don’t want our beef if it isn’t properly tested? What were they expecting?
In 2003, Dave Louthan wrote an article for CounterPunch where he identified himself as one of the crew that was working at Vern’s Moses Lake Meats when tests came back on a cow that had BSE.(Mad cow) The USDA swooped in and tried to hush the whole thing up, but Louthan blew the whistle.
He said, “They asked me ‘was the cow in the food chain?’ I told them of course it was, it’s meat. Where else would it be? They asked me if the cow was a downer. I told them no, it was just an old cow. . . . How many other walkers have BSE? We will never know. The USDA only tested the downers and cripples and only at our plant.”
(Now here’s the kicker) “When the USDA said no more downers would be slaughtered, they essentially said no more BSE testing would be done. Vern’s and every other slaughterhouse kept right on killing and selling Holstein meat from the same area as the mad cow with no BSE testing whatsoever. This is true and easily verifiable.” (Dave Louthan, They are Lying about your Food, CounterPunch, 2003)
Yikes! So the USDA deliberately put the public at risk just to save a few bucks for the industry?
Apparently so.
But what’s the big deal, anyway; you get a bad steak and maybe you get a fever for a few days and throw up, right?
Wrong. As Louthan says: “BSE is 100 percent fatal — if you or your kids get it, you die a very painful death. It’s a slow, wasting disease. It’s terrible.”
Huh, it’s fatal?
According to Louthan, “If you eat mad cow, you are going to get sick and you are going to die.”
Louthan estimates that “there are over a million mad cows in this country” but we’ll never know for sure because the government is determined to limit testing to a very small percentage of the cows. The Bush administration would rather bully our trading partners into taking dodgy beef then do what’s necessary to keep the public safe.
There have been very few updates on the mad cow story with one exception that appeared in USA Today, titled “US on Mad Cow: Don’t Test all cattle” (5-29-07) Here’s an excerpt:
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. . . . The Agriculture Department tests less than 1% of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too. A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal — effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out. . . . Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.”
Great. So the Bush administration is spearheading the effort to stop additional testing because it might cost too much. There’s something to mull over before biting into that next juicy hamburger.
An editorial in the South Korea newspaper “The Hankyoreh” summed up the real reasons behind the “meat wars” like this: “If the United States is going to be selling beef on the international market, IT SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT IT IS SAFE. The thing is, there are doubts about the safety of American beef even within the United States. The New York Times has reported that in 2005, when there was a second confirmed case of mad cow disease, the U.S. Agriculture Department hid the fact for seven months. The Times also reported that of the 30 million cows slaughtered in the United States annually, only 650,000, or about 2 percent, are tested for mad cow disease. . . . Fixing the problems quickly and making it possible to market safety-assured beef would be helping American farmers.” (”The “U.S. role in the beef issue”, The Hankyoreh, South Korea)
BSE is serious business. As Louthan says, “If you eat mad cow, you are going to get sick and you are going to die.” It’s no joke. The Bush administration needs to stop making excuses and fix the damn system.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
Copyright © 1998-2007 Online Journal
Email Online Journal Editor
Top of Page
Source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3402.shtml
By Mike Whitney
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Jun 23, 2008, 00:13
Email this article
Printer friendly page
You wouldn’t know it from reading the newspapers, but the streets of Seoul are packed with tens of thousands of angry protesters who’ve brought business and government to a grinding halt. The demonstrations have dragged on for more than a month and show no sign of ending anytime soon. President Lee Myung-Bak’s decision to lift the ban on US beef imports has set off a political firestorm that is likely to bring down the government and put the kibosh on free trade agreements for years to come.
Last Tuesday, the powerful Korean Confederation of Trade Unions threatened to call a general strike if the meat-deal with Washington was not rescinded. If the unions strike, the whole capital will shut down. That’s why the politicians are scrambling for solutions.
South Korea suspended the purchase of US beef in 2003 after an incident of mad cow was reported in Washington state. Many Koreans still don’t believe the government’s assurances that the meat is safe and they may have a point. According to the LA Times the USDA tests less than 1 percent of cattle. (USDA Mad Cow Madness” LA Times) In contrast, Japan tests every cow that enters the food chain.
Also, according to the Associated Press, “Restricted imports of U.S. beef reached South Korean supermarkets last year, but further shipments were put on hold in October after banned parts, such as bones, were found in a shipment.
Scientists believe mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), spreads when farmers feed cattle recycled meat and bones from infected animals. In humans, eating meat products contaminated with the illness is linked to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal malady.”
The Myung-Bak administration is being strong-armed by the Bush team to ignore the massive protests and honor the terms of the trade agreement. It’s a “lose-lose” situation for the Korean president who can either incur the wrath of the corporate oligarchs by caving in or commit political seppuku by shrugging off the demands of his people. Either way, Lee’s career is kaput; he’ll never survive the fallout.
According to AFP, “Seoul insists it cannot meet protesters’ demands to renegotiate the beef deal, saying it would jeopardize a separate, wider free trade agreement and cast doubt on South Korea’s good faith as a negotiator. . . . The US apparently fears any official endorsement would breach World Trade Organization rules.”
Right; “a deal is a deal;” what were they thinking? How could they expect to bend the rules for something as trivial as public safety? So on with the protests, on with the strike. The whole issue of free trade is now precariously balanced on a few pounds of sketchy brisket.
The media has done a first-rate job of diverting attention from the the central issue of whether meat is safe or not by characterizing the protests as “frustration with President Lee”. This is just more nonsense to protect the beef industry. In reality, people everywhere want to be sure that what they put in their mouths is safe to eat. The lack of confidence in US beef imports has struck a nerve in the publics consciousness, sending thousands of Koreans into the streets shouting slogans and waving fists. But is their rage is justified?
According to Martha Rosenberg, “Seven people have died from probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in the US in the last nine months . . . Do trade officials know something we don’t know?”
She reported, “In May, the Bush administration urged a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Arkansas City, KS-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct advanced mad cow testing on its animals–presumably because it would raise consumer questions and make other packers look bad.
“This is the government telling the consumers, ‘You’re not entitled to this information,’” protested Creekstone attorney Russell Frye, according to the AP, a charge also heard in March when USDA refused to name companies selling 143 million pounds of recalled Westland/Hallmark beef because the information was “proprietary.” [Meat Wars with South Korea, Martha Rosenberg]
Hmmmm. So, why is the Bush administration so surprised that foreigners don’t want our beef if it isn’t properly tested? What were they expecting?
In 2003, Dave Louthan wrote an article for CounterPunch where he identified himself as one of the crew that was working at Vern’s Moses Lake Meats when tests came back on a cow that had BSE.(Mad cow) The USDA swooped in and tried to hush the whole thing up, but Louthan blew the whistle.
He said, “They asked me ‘was the cow in the food chain?’ I told them of course it was, it’s meat. Where else would it be? They asked me if the cow was a downer. I told them no, it was just an old cow. . . . How many other walkers have BSE? We will never know. The USDA only tested the downers and cripples and only at our plant.”
(Now here’s the kicker) “When the USDA said no more downers would be slaughtered, they essentially said no more BSE testing would be done. Vern’s and every other slaughterhouse kept right on killing and selling Holstein meat from the same area as the mad cow with no BSE testing whatsoever. This is true and easily verifiable.” (Dave Louthan, They are Lying about your Food, CounterPunch, 2003)
Yikes! So the USDA deliberately put the public at risk just to save a few bucks for the industry?
Apparently so.
But what’s the big deal, anyway; you get a bad steak and maybe you get a fever for a few days and throw up, right?
Wrong. As Louthan says: “BSE is 100 percent fatal — if you or your kids get it, you die a very painful death. It’s a slow, wasting disease. It’s terrible.”
Huh, it’s fatal?
According to Louthan, “If you eat mad cow, you are going to get sick and you are going to die.”
Louthan estimates that “there are over a million mad cows in this country” but we’ll never know for sure because the government is determined to limit testing to a very small percentage of the cows. The Bush administration would rather bully our trading partners into taking dodgy beef then do what’s necessary to keep the public safe.
There have been very few updates on the mad cow story with one exception that appeared in USA Today, titled “US on Mad Cow: Don’t Test all cattle” (5-29-07) Here’s an excerpt:
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease. . . . The Agriculture Department tests less than 1% of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows. Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too. A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. The ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal — effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out. . . . Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.”
Great. So the Bush administration is spearheading the effort to stop additional testing because it might cost too much. There’s something to mull over before biting into that next juicy hamburger.
An editorial in the South Korea newspaper “The Hankyoreh” summed up the real reasons behind the “meat wars” like this: “If the United States is going to be selling beef on the international market, IT SHOULD MAKE SURE THAT IT IS SAFE. The thing is, there are doubts about the safety of American beef even within the United States. The New York Times has reported that in 2005, when there was a second confirmed case of mad cow disease, the U.S. Agriculture Department hid the fact for seven months. The Times also reported that of the 30 million cows slaughtered in the United States annually, only 650,000, or about 2 percent, are tested for mad cow disease. . . . Fixing the problems quickly and making it possible to market safety-assured beef would be helping American farmers.” (”The “U.S. role in the beef issue”, The Hankyoreh, South Korea)
BSE is serious business. As Louthan says, “If you eat mad cow, you are going to get sick and you are going to die.” It’s no joke. The Bush administration needs to stop making excuses and fix the damn system.
Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com.
Copyright © 1998-2007 Online Journal
Email Online Journal Editor
Top of Page
Source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3402.shtml
32'd3735928559 ???
Source: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/shim_jae_hoon/2008/06/south_koreas_real_beef.html#comments
SEOUL - By apologizing for mishandling the beef import issue with the United States, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has averted a major political crisis that threatened to undermine the stability of his young administration. In a nationally televised speech on Thursday, he promised to ban imports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months of age, accepting the argument that younger cattle are less prone to mad cow disease, and therefore safer for Korean consumers.
But whether this new import rule, subject to agreement with the U.S., will end many weeks of street protests in Seoul remains doubtful. Underlying the recent political unrest are a variety of factors, including Lee’s controversial leadership style. The concern over mad cow disease may certainly be genuine, but as demonstrators freely concede, it has also been useful as a cover for expressing other discontents.
One of them is President Lee’s propensity to make decisions based on consultation among his narrow circle of advisors. He lifted the ban on American beef imports in April, imposed since the 2003 outbreak of the mad cow disease in the U.S., on the spur of the moment, his critics say, on the eve of visit to Washington for a highly publicized meeting with US President George W. Bush. That speedy decision, reportedly made without much consultation outside the government (the strong farm lobby, for example) triggered the feeling that he was pushing his political agenda by risking consumer safety. With his judgment now in doubt, his leadership as president has been considerably weakened.
Next was the quality of people he picked for his first cabinet, which critics promptly labeled a “rich men’s club” of officials holding a large sum of assets in land and housing, reportedly acquired through speculation. Their image as members of the privileged establishment, rich and well-connected (some were attacked for dodging Korea’s compulsory military service,) provoked particular resentment in the center-left constituency of the underprivileged and unionized workers.
Faced with mounting attacks, Lee has promised to replace some senior officials, severely damaging their reputations. President Lee has been so shaken by the backlash against his appointees that he has pledged to choose cabinet members from among those holding less than a billion won (US$1 million) in assets. Judging people by this standard of wealth, his cabinet could very well be empty.
Public resentment against rich officials –- especially the perception that their wealth could have been built via illegitimate, if not illegal, means — clouds the outlook on Lee’s otherwise legitimate policy goals, such as his campaign pledge to boost the sagging economy through tax cuts and deregulation. And yet, Lee’s business-friendly policy has been roundly denounced as a pro-chaebol policy favoring big business conglomerates at the expense of workers and small businesses. The center-left views this as a ploy to roll back its own reform plank achieved under the previous regime, such as equity-based distribution and egalitarian educational benefits.
How all this plays out in the months ahead should be of more crucial concern than the issue of American beef, which at most amounts to US$800 million a year. With so much passion pouring out on the street, and the opposition United Democratic Party fanning the flame, South Korean exporters must now risk a potential trade backlash from the U.S., which imported 700,000 Korean cars last year against exports of 5,000 U.S. cars to Korea, (along with electronics and other manufactures.) Emotions on the Capitol Hill have been so fired up, too, that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Hillary Clinton have all attacked Korea’s closed market, vowing to oppose the congressional passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade agreement signed last year.
Thus the beef issue throws a long shadow onto the future of bilateral trade. With President Lee now appearing to put his reform program on the back burner to recover his political peace, he is facing another wave of criticism, this time from the conservative business community, on his faltering leadership. His political compromise on reform, as well as on beef imports, presage a rough ride for the next five years under his government.
My comment:
There are so many factors in play here.
Korean side:
1) President Lee played a dumb game. Even though he calculated numbers (profits FTA can bring, # of jobs, etc) well as he built his career out of doing that, he misjudged the dynamics of trade and international politics, not to mention his own domestic politics. This is an election year in U.S. with a majority of Democrats in Congress. Democrats are not going to risk the election by ratifying dubious FTA’s with Korea and Columbia. The waning Bush Administration in the last year of 2nd term will have no power over putting the bill on the Congress floor. We have seen bills such as farm bill are overwhelming Bush’s vetoes. There is a clear power shift in U.S. Mr. Lee did not even consider. Maybe he thought he could rush things as he has done just as in his mayoral time but this is the major league of the world, not single-A semi-pros.
2) Mr. Lee’s domestic policies are planned for efficiencies, adopting American business models. He views government entities are wasteful at best and by privatizing them the country would be better off. He is correct in economical term but again he is blind to the human side of governing. Those government entities such as medicare, utilities, etc in Korea are highly unionized as well as provide secure jobs for the employees. No one is willing to give up their safe and high paying jobs and with a highly military labor union it’s nearly impossible to break them. America has those powerful unions everywhere (UAW, Teacher’s, Nurses, etc) as well. Mr. Lee’s policies make a lot of sense as Korea wants to focus on the growth but his timing and political maneuvering are really horrible. Privatizations will get started some time later in the administration if Mr. Lee can handle the beef situation. If not, he can kiss his task goodbye to Mars. The beef situation is a perfect vehicle for those people can ride along without putting their face on the front pages.
3) Koreans have this sense of pride/inferior complex/defensiveness. They have a history of being hounded by big guys like China, Japan, U.S., Russia, etc. The sense of pride kept them being acquired by bigger guys. Some Koreans compare the situation to Israel (maybe the reason why Christianity is so popular?? although I know Judaism is totally different from Christianity) So they are often very hostile against the pressure or disrespect however you can call it from outside or above. Now Mr. Lee’s government executes the style of the boss who jams the tasks down to the throats of poor employees. There is nothing more offensive to Koreans than being disrespectful. The disrespect, a.k.a hurt the ego, factor pops up in people’s daily conversation. No wonder people are extremely unhappy to have the boss telling them what to do. So there goes why political pandering is not so bad.
U.S. side:
1) Read above Korean side 1). It’s an election year. The focus is in Michigan.
2) How is this Korean beef thing in terms of priorities in U.S? After election, after Iraq, after Afghanistan, after oil, after Israel, after racism, after sexism, after flag pin, after patriotism, after old age, after hummer chevy cadillar SUV’s etc etc… Okay no wonder most Americans don’t have capacity to care this thing unless you are from Cargill, Tyson Foods, or Mr. “you-know-who-got-your-back” Bush.
3) FDA is a crap. Many experts in U.S. agree that FDA is stretched very thin. All the new food outbreaks as well as drug fatalities are bogging down FDA. How likely is that FDA can effectively monitor this situation while Salonella is running wild out there? And informed Americans also know that the U.S. government blocked the attempt by the private company to voluntarily inspect the beef. Why? I don’t know what is cooking inside but it’s not hard to figure out what is at stake, PROFITS.
So there goes a one page term paper on where they are. I see that Koreans are more willing to engage as they think it’s more vital to their life while Americans have a laid back attitude on this issue due to more urgent issues out there. It sure sounds like a lot got done in the past week but if someone is not happy (likely those meat packers in U.S.), this will bring a stalemate and may kill the FTA down the road.
SEOUL - By apologizing for mishandling the beef import issue with the United States, South Korean President Lee Myung Bak has averted a major political crisis that threatened to undermine the stability of his young administration. In a nationally televised speech on Thursday, he promised to ban imports of American beef from cattle older than 30 months of age, accepting the argument that younger cattle are less prone to mad cow disease, and therefore safer for Korean consumers.
But whether this new import rule, subject to agreement with the U.S., will end many weeks of street protests in Seoul remains doubtful. Underlying the recent political unrest are a variety of factors, including Lee’s controversial leadership style. The concern over mad cow disease may certainly be genuine, but as demonstrators freely concede, it has also been useful as a cover for expressing other discontents.
One of them is President Lee’s propensity to make decisions based on consultation among his narrow circle of advisors. He lifted the ban on American beef imports in April, imposed since the 2003 outbreak of the mad cow disease in the U.S., on the spur of the moment, his critics say, on the eve of visit to Washington for a highly publicized meeting with US President George W. Bush. That speedy decision, reportedly made without much consultation outside the government (the strong farm lobby, for example) triggered the feeling that he was pushing his political agenda by risking consumer safety. With his judgment now in doubt, his leadership as president has been considerably weakened.
Next was the quality of people he picked for his first cabinet, which critics promptly labeled a “rich men’s club” of officials holding a large sum of assets in land and housing, reportedly acquired through speculation. Their image as members of the privileged establishment, rich and well-connected (some were attacked for dodging Korea’s compulsory military service,) provoked particular resentment in the center-left constituency of the underprivileged and unionized workers.
Faced with mounting attacks, Lee has promised to replace some senior officials, severely damaging their reputations. President Lee has been so shaken by the backlash against his appointees that he has pledged to choose cabinet members from among those holding less than a billion won (US$1 million) in assets. Judging people by this standard of wealth, his cabinet could very well be empty.
Public resentment against rich officials –- especially the perception that their wealth could have been built via illegitimate, if not illegal, means — clouds the outlook on Lee’s otherwise legitimate policy goals, such as his campaign pledge to boost the sagging economy through tax cuts and deregulation. And yet, Lee’s business-friendly policy has been roundly denounced as a pro-chaebol policy favoring big business conglomerates at the expense of workers and small businesses. The center-left views this as a ploy to roll back its own reform plank achieved under the previous regime, such as equity-based distribution and egalitarian educational benefits.
How all this plays out in the months ahead should be of more crucial concern than the issue of American beef, which at most amounts to US$800 million a year. With so much passion pouring out on the street, and the opposition United Democratic Party fanning the flame, South Korean exporters must now risk a potential trade backlash from the U.S., which imported 700,000 Korean cars last year against exports of 5,000 U.S. cars to Korea, (along with electronics and other manufactures.) Emotions on the Capitol Hill have been so fired up, too, that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Hillary Clinton have all attacked Korea’s closed market, vowing to oppose the congressional passage of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade agreement signed last year.
Thus the beef issue throws a long shadow onto the future of bilateral trade. With President Lee now appearing to put his reform program on the back burner to recover his political peace, he is facing another wave of criticism, this time from the conservative business community, on his faltering leadership. His political compromise on reform, as well as on beef imports, presage a rough ride for the next five years under his government.
My comment:
There are so many factors in play here.
Korean side:
1) President Lee played a dumb game. Even though he calculated numbers (profits FTA can bring, # of jobs, etc) well as he built his career out of doing that, he misjudged the dynamics of trade and international politics, not to mention his own domestic politics. This is an election year in U.S. with a majority of Democrats in Congress. Democrats are not going to risk the election by ratifying dubious FTA’s with Korea and Columbia. The waning Bush Administration in the last year of 2nd term will have no power over putting the bill on the Congress floor. We have seen bills such as farm bill are overwhelming Bush’s vetoes. There is a clear power shift in U.S. Mr. Lee did not even consider. Maybe he thought he could rush things as he has done just as in his mayoral time but this is the major league of the world, not single-A semi-pros.
2) Mr. Lee’s domestic policies are planned for efficiencies, adopting American business models. He views government entities are wasteful at best and by privatizing them the country would be better off. He is correct in economical term but again he is blind to the human side of governing. Those government entities such as medicare, utilities, etc in Korea are highly unionized as well as provide secure jobs for the employees. No one is willing to give up their safe and high paying jobs and with a highly military labor union it’s nearly impossible to break them. America has those powerful unions everywhere (UAW, Teacher’s, Nurses, etc) as well. Mr. Lee’s policies make a lot of sense as Korea wants to focus on the growth but his timing and political maneuvering are really horrible. Privatizations will get started some time later in the administration if Mr. Lee can handle the beef situation. If not, he can kiss his task goodbye to Mars. The beef situation is a perfect vehicle for those people can ride along without putting their face on the front pages.
3) Koreans have this sense of pride/inferior complex/defensiveness. They have a history of being hounded by big guys like China, Japan, U.S., Russia, etc. The sense of pride kept them being acquired by bigger guys. Some Koreans compare the situation to Israel (maybe the reason why Christianity is so popular?? although I know Judaism is totally different from Christianity) So they are often very hostile against the pressure or disrespect however you can call it from outside or above. Now Mr. Lee’s government executes the style of the boss who jams the tasks down to the throats of poor employees. There is nothing more offensive to Koreans than being disrespectful. The disrespect, a.k.a hurt the ego, factor pops up in people’s daily conversation. No wonder people are extremely unhappy to have the boss telling them what to do. So there goes why political pandering is not so bad.
U.S. side:
1) Read above Korean side 1). It’s an election year. The focus is in Michigan.
2) How is this Korean beef thing in terms of priorities in U.S? After election, after Iraq, after Afghanistan, after oil, after Israel, after racism, after sexism, after flag pin, after patriotism, after old age, after hummer chevy cadillar SUV’s etc etc… Okay no wonder most Americans don’t have capacity to care this thing unless you are from Cargill, Tyson Foods, or Mr. “you-know-who-got-your-back” Bush.
3) FDA is a crap. Many experts in U.S. agree that FDA is stretched very thin. All the new food outbreaks as well as drug fatalities are bogging down FDA. How likely is that FDA can effectively monitor this situation while Salonella is running wild out there? And informed Americans also know that the U.S. government blocked the attempt by the private company to voluntarily inspect the beef. Why? I don’t know what is cooking inside but it’s not hard to figure out what is at stake, PROFITS.
So there goes a one page term paper on where they are. I see that Koreans are more willing to engage as they think it’s more vital to their life while Americans have a laid back attitude on this issue due to more urgent issues out there. It sure sounds like a lot got done in the past week but if someone is not happy (likely those meat packers in U.S.), this will bring a stalemate and may kill the FTA down the road.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
One of the best cable moments during democratic primary
Life Lesson: Don't ever hire a lawyer who is nothing but a loud mouth like Kevin James.
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