Consumer Alert: Tomatoes

Panicking about raw tomatoes? Relax.

Sure, there was that foofaraw in the papers and TV over the past few days, allowing as how all kinds of people were turning their toes up to the heavens and keeling over thanks to the ingestion of raw tomato products contaminated with a relatively uncommon strain of salmonella. The Florida tomato growers wept and beat their collective breast, claiming that their industry was in "complete collapse," their families homeless, their children unfed and deity alone knows what other blather-am-skate.

It was alleged that 40 people had fallen ill in Texas and New Mexico after ingesting raw tomatoes, and some 17 subsequently had been hospitalized. An additional 30 individuals in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, Illinois and Indiana had also suffered illness resulting from the same strain of Salmonella saintpaulia. It was, at that time, unknown whether raw tomatoes were implicated in these additional illnesses. Roughly four people in each of those states. Hardly deserving of panic mode, don't you think?

One person &mdash an elderly Texan &mdash did die as a result of the infection. So, fellow old farts, what lesson can we draw from this? Old farts shouldn't take risks with their food? Hey, you're gonna die anyway, why not choose to go as a result of a memorable caprese salad or a nice salsa? OK, the symptoms aren't exactly delightful, but you'll be dead so you won't have to clean up, right?

In any event, the CBC now tells us that tomatoes from the states of Florida and California are not implicated in the recent illnesses. These tomatoes are safe to eat:

• Cherry tomatoes
  
  
• Grape tomatoes
  
  
• Home-grown tomatoes
  
  
• Tomatoes with part of the vine still attached
  
  
• Tomatoes from California or Florida
  
  
• Cooked tomatoes of any shape or form

So you Florida growers can quit your weeping and wailing and go back to gouging your poor workers (who had to fight for years to get a penny per lb. increase in their wages) and the public. As for the rest of us, this is yet another excellent reason to buy local, preferably organically grown.

In fact, today we learned that farmers have to pay stores to keep their products on the store shelves. (Yeah, yeah, we're hardly as well-informed or as smart as we like to think). So, really, the best way to buy would be direct from the farm. It's time to eliminate the middle-schlub. Instead of paying big corporations obscene amounts of money to rape the land and destroy the air we breathe and the water we drink, how about shopping at farmer's markets?

The farm bills that Congress signs are the worst offenders in draining the resources of small farmers and polluting the quality of the nation's food supply. There is a program available called Community Supported Agriculture\ that tries to get conumers directly in touch with farmers. It sounds like an excellent idea. Much better than being poisoned by tomatoes schlepped from Mexico (which are the current suspects in the salmonella scandal) at high cost of fuel and under, probably, appalling labour conditions.

We're off to examine our options. Eat the damn salsa, already.

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Health: Stories That Make Us Go Hmmm

Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

Reuters has a story up today about people contracting acute urinary tract infections from their pets. (SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, January 15, 2008.)

La Casa de Los Gatos has had multiple cats, dogs, and other beasties in and around La Casa for some 25 years now, and cannot recall anyone in this sometimes multi-peopled household having any urinary tract infections, let alone "acute" ones.

What's the matter, peeples? Are somebodies not washing their hands regularly, or something? How do you contract urinary tract infections from your pets? We're simply stumped at this.

Most times, UTIs are contracted by people who have continence problems - sitting around in a diaper full of poop will do that to ya. (You hear that Senator Vitter? Senator Vitter, affectionately referred to as Shitty Vitty by various New Orleans bloggers, is alleged to have a fetish for both prostitutes and diapers; oddly, unlike his colleague Larry Craig, Senator Vitter has never been censured. I guess GAY is worse, to Republicans than pooping yourself.)

Women often contract UTIs when they fail to wipe from front to back. Wearing very tight pants and overenthusiastic humping are other causes, believe it or not. As for men, UTI rates tend to be low till age 50, and climb thereafter.

But the pet thing? We don't get it. Most bacterial infections can be avoided by simply exercising basic cleanliness - washing one's hands after using the toilet or cleaning the catbox, for example. And you don't even need antibacterial soap or cleaning products. In fact, you should avoid antibacterial soaps and cleaners. We're trying not to imagine how E. coli bacteria got from your pet's digestive tract to your urinary tract, OK? We really don't want to know.

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Politics - Fall's Latest Fashion: Turncoat

Image courtesy of kooldawgtees.com

This week, on the bad side, it's Lyin' Joe LIEberman, registering as a Democrat, according to diarist Sprinkles at Daily Kos. The Chairman of the Connecticut for Lieberman party is, understandably, miffed that the lying whore LIEberman has rejoined the Democratic party after knifing the entire collective body thoroughly in the back.

Next up, "Straight Talk Was So Yesterday" McCain, announcing that he's been a Baptist for years, although he's identified himself as an Episcopalian for years. When dat happen, John? Right before you went a-campaignin' to heavily Baptist South Carolina? McCain has also dropped all mention of Bush from his campaign speeches. Good luck, John, old buddy old pal. That and a couple of bucks ought to get you a nice half-caf mocha soy latte.

Then, Alan Greenspan tells us that he just didn't realize that all those variable ARMs he was cramming down our collective throat were going to result in so much fail. To add insult to injury, he then tells us that we're in Iraq for the oil, something anyone with multiple brain cells has said from before the war even began.

Next up, Dubya's longtime buddy Vicente Fox, who describes his old amigo as stubborn and cocky, and claims he would never have thought Bush could get into the WH. Neither did most other Americans, Vicente, we all think Bush stole both elections.

Iraq War architect and professional hawk, Donny Rummy came out with a nasty little remark about being "too busy" to pay attention to what's happening in Iraq, and stated that he didn't miss ol' buddy Bushie in the least.

And the Pentagon just took a swipe at Rude Ghouliani, who is using Petraeus' pictures without permission in his attack ads aimed at Hillary Clinton. I wonder why?

On the plus side, an entire generation of Cuban exiles in Florida is giving the Republicans the hairy eyeball. Good. We have lots more to worry about than Fidel Castro and that stupid embargo, when we have Stupie McDrunktard in the WH with his finger on the button, ready to throw us all, willy-nilly, into WWIII.

Iraqi parliamentarians allied with cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have withdrawn from Nouri al-Maliki's sham "government," exposing it for what it really is - a puppet force limited to the Green Zone, with its politicians mostly living in foreign lands. As noted by a Kurdish lawmaker:

"The Americans always try to pretend the responsibility for cleaning up this mess isn't theirs and tend to shift blame onto Iraq, Iran and Syria for everything that goes wrong," said veteran Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman.

Traditional Republican constituents in Colorado are really really pissed off at Bush's efforts at oil and gas drilling occur in their hitherto pristine state, opening up opportunities for Democrats to take a couple of seats there.

Military families are calling bullshit on Bush/Petraeus' "drawdown" strategies. Perhaps they're finally seeing the Liar 'n Thief for what he is.

Chuck Hagel calls Bush's Iraq policy a "dirty trick." He won't run for re-election, giving the Democrats an opportunity at yet another Senate seat and forcing Republicans to spend time, money, and energy defending a seat that, as long as Chuck Hagel was in it, was pretty much guaranteed for them.

And - big YAY! - Lincoln Chafee has left the Republican party and registered as an independent. I've always liked Chafee. His positions are pretty moderate, overall, and some of them are downright progressive. I hope he wins whatever he runs for next. I'd rather have him in the Senate than that foul, lying, weaselly little tool, Joe LIEberwhore. Or "Dirty Diapers" Vitter, for that matter.
The Los Angeles times reports, via Huffingto Post, that defense secretary Robert Gates is pushing for larger troop cuts in Iraq, although he's apparently being pressured by the Bushies to backpeddle on that.

The Los Angeles Times also reports that U.C. Irvine is in the embarrassing position of attempting to rehire law professor Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of their law school after the chancellor dumped him for being "too liberal."

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Politics - Why The Rush To Get Rid Of Larry Craig?

I was tootling around Firedoglake this morning (confession: it's one of my favorite sites), and found a link to Sisyphus Shrugged laying down some rather disquieting reasons for the rush to dump Larry Craig.

I'm not saying he shouldn't have been dumped. There's a big difference between getting a blowjob in the relative privacy of your office and hustling someone in a public toilet. Plus, I've been aural witness to recreational sex in public bathrooms, and it's not an experience I care for. I think sex is good and people should have as much of it as they can. Keeps the sphincters, erm, toned. And the emotional makeup less constipated, if you will. I just don't care for being a party to it if I'm not actively involved, and I have a thing about toilets being a less than desirably clean site for such activities.

That said, I had to wonder why Craig got the bum's rush while Vitter of the dirty diapers continues to be protected by the Gross Old Perverts.

Reason #1: Craig is gay, Vitter is straight, and the GOP, like all closet queens, is notably homophobic;
Reason #2: The Governor of Idaho is a Republican, who will appoint a fellow-Republican to take Craig's seat; the Governor of Louisiana is a Democrat, and the Republicans don't want to give Democrats that one extra vote in the Senate.
Reason #3: Go check out Firedoglake and Sisyphus Shrugged. You'll be glad you did.

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Politics - David Vitter's Dirty Laundry

Your Right Hand Thief, a NOLA blog which offers substantive discussions on New Orleans, contains some interesting David Vitter tidbits that are getting linked by other blogs. I have no idea if any of it is true, but if so, I can't help wondering why Vitter doesn't step down NOW and save himself further embarrassment and humiliation.

Noladishu has further tongue-in-cheekery. My, my. Reminds me of the Labors of Hercules. Part V - The Augean stables. Whole lotta shit rainin' down. Anywho, go visit YRHT for the salacious details, and tell 'em I sent you.

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