Some of you may have seen my parody of Bush's May 1, 2003 “Mission Accomplished” theatrics, and a few of you may have even gotten the joke.
In any case, I posted a version to YTMND complete with remixed clips from the speech. Tonight's podcast is an extended version of that speech remix. As always, click on the podcast icon to the right, or the “Podcast” item in the right-side menu, to subscribe.
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With apologies to Harry Shearer, we present this “tale of airport security” from the CBC News:
Mary Martell discovered Ginger, the family pet, in her luggage after a two-hour plane ride to Toronto and an hour's drive to Niagara-on-the-Lake. The cat apparently snuck into a bag while Martell was packing.
Martell said her bag was scanned at the airport, but she was not stopped.
“They had asked me, when they put ? the luggage through the X-ray, whether I had a turkey,” Martell said…
…The bag was sent on and loaded into the cargo bay of the airplane. Ginger, 3, was discovered when Martell opened her suitcase in her hotel room.
Fortunately, Ginger is doing well after her adventure. But don't you think that airport security could have detected a live animal in a suitcase? From a follow-up article:
When the cat went through screening, the X-ray machine would have shown just a faint image of some bones,” [Canadian Air Transport Security Authority spokesperson said,] “That, in itself is not a threat object to civil aviation. That would have passed through, no problem.”
But of course my toothpaste is a threat to civil aviation, and my musical instruments (including the acoustic folk instruments) get passed through the X-ray machine several times before being allowed to pass. And a bottle of water (purchased outside the terminal) cannot be carried, but an animal that is 75% water is OK…
Well, since it appears to be OK security-wise to carry live animals in suitcases, can people check in their crying babies, please?
I had planned to do a “fun with highways post” on the MacArthur maze, which connects highways I-80, I-580 and I-880 to the Bay Bridge in Oakland:
Well, it turns out not to be so “fun” at this time. A major tanker truck crash and explosion in the southest corner of the maze. The resulting conflagration on the elevated southbound I-880 melted the steel of the even more elevated eastboard connector from I-80 to I-580, which eventually collapsed onto the lower highway.
Please visit this article to view images. You can see a video taken by an eyewitness at the time of the fire. Watch it here instead of at the YouTube site in order to avoid the boorish and in some cases quite inappropriate comments.
This looks like it was rather intense, and scary. Indeed it was rather freaky to see the charred freeway photos last night when first logged on last night. I know that section of freeway quite well from my time in Berkeley and frequent trips to San Francisco and the East Bay since then. That section of southbound 880 had only re-opened a few years ago, having been closed and then rebuild after the infamous collapse of the 880 double-decker freeway in the 1989 earthquake.
Fortunately, the driver of the truck escaped with only moderate burns, and nobody else was hurt in either the fire or the collapse of the freeway. Presumably when you see something like that ahead of you, you opt not to keep heading into it. The area is also fairly spare industrial land, so no homes in West Oakland were threatened. Could have been a lot worse, I suppose…
We at CatSynth are hanging a brown ribbon today as part of the nationwide march to Keep Our Pets Safe. Marches and other events are being planned in several cities throughout the US (though not in the bay area), but everyone is encouraged to participate online by displaying the brown ribbon to support pets and and the families who have lost pets due to the pet-food recall.
We also heard from artsy catsy about the “My Pet Counts” postcard blitz. Mail postcards today (April 28) to the FDA, the White House, your representatives and senators, and others who have actually been involved addressing this issue. Among those listed is Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, who held hearings on the pet-food contaminations and the FDA response. He has also launched a public internet campaign asking “FDA to improve the safety of our pet food supply now!”
It was a bit odd to see Anderson Cooper of CNN specifically listed as a postcard addressee. I don't watch television at home. Apparently he did some early reporting on the pet-food contamination and did a segment in China. I haven't been able to find that video.
Speaking of China, they have admitted the presence of melamine and invited the FDA to help investigate, though the still have not admitted the link to the illnesses and deaths of any pets.
According to Pet Connection, more than 5,500 pet-food products, house brands and name brands alike, are now on the FDA's recall list. So far, Luna's favorite food remains safe – it contains corn gluten, but we are assured it is produced int the US (again, why would we important any corn products into the US?). Nonethless, it's still scary. What happens if it is later found to be contaminated as well? Switching to home-made food is not advised unless one really knows what he or she is doing. So while I'm happy to make treats for Luna from Meow Chow recipes and elswhere, I still rely on safe pet food for her continued healthy diet. We hope all our feline friends stay safe.
Pet Connection reports from its voluntary database that over 14,000 affected pets, of which 4500 have died.
From Corey Anderson at American Idle:
Take that, MC Rove! W's band has a major Motown hit and an aardvark!
Only 634 days…
Well, it looks like we've been nominated for Blogger's Choice Awards in three categories:
Of course, half of all the sites I visit these days are nominated for Blogger's Choice Awards. But nonetheless, we at CatSynth ask for your support, if nothing else it's a bit of fun. I think our best chance is in the Geek Blog category. In the Animal Blogger category, there's very little chance of competing with sites like Cute Overload, dailykitten or the lolcats.
From the nominating statement:
“cats, synthesizers, music, art, opinion” Yes, it's a blog about cats and synths, a strange combination that seems to work. Lots of cute photos of cats posing with, and occasionally playing, music gear. Also features frequent appearances by the lovely black kitty Luna, pretty much the *star* of the site. This site is quite informative, in terms of various global issues, such as pet food recalls, interesting stats of highways, information about people and places (ie New Orleans). This website has many visitors, especially kitty lovers and those people who like music and synthesizers as well. It's got class, it's got variety, best of all, it's got kitties!
I'm glad someone out there appreciates my “highways” posts.
On this Earth Day (or as Luna might say, “erfday”), we turn our attention to the big world outside the window.
Climate change is of course the big issue this Earth Day, and we encourage everyone to read the stats about climate change published earlier today. For Weeked Cat Blogging, we present some of the world's most endangered wild cats. The Cat Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union maintains information on the status of the 36 species of wild cat. We only have room for a few of them here.
Among the most endangered is the Iberian Lynx. According to IUCN CSG:
The decline of the lynx population since the 1960s has been primarily caused by habitat loss and a decline of their main prey species, the European rabbit…Nevertheless, there are some areas where habitat quality and rabbit density appear sufficient, yet no lynx are found. Particularly in these areas, it seems that humans are directly responsible for an appreciable level of lynx mortality (Delibes 1989).
Certainly, the policy of Fascist-era Spain of paying a bounty for killing lynxes didn't help. As if there weren't already enough resons to despise fascists.
In the Andes of South America, we find the gato andino or Andean mountain cat. This odd little cat (look at that tail!) is quite rare, living only the high-altitude rocky and semi-arid sections of the Andes. There is not a lot of information known about it, but the low population and specialized habitat would suggest that it is quite vulnerable to climate change.
The U.S. is not without its endangered cats. Perhaps the most endangered is the Florida Panther. Yes, it's not just the name of a hockey team, but a subspecies of cougar that were almost wiped out by development and bounty hunters, and now the few remaining panthers live in southwest Florida, one of the areas of the U.S. most threatened by global warming, tropical storms and rising sea levels.
Although Ocelots as a whole are not considered endangered, the subspecies found in Texas is in serious danger, according to the Environmental Defense Fund:
The tiny fraction of ocelot habitat that remains is largely fragmented, leaving most ocelots stranded on the 45,000-acre Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and on a handful of private lands, with very little new habitat for the cats to raise future generations. Because the south Texas ocelots are found in such small and isolated groups, they tend to inbreed, making them increasingly vulnerable to extinction.
There are numerous groups working to protect wild cats from the many threats they face, climate change, habit loss, hunting, etc. The links throughout this article take you various agencies and private groups. Another is the International Society for Endangered Cats. And throughout the U.S., there are wild cat sanctuaries for displaced and/or abused animals.
We are happy to report that felis silvestris domesticus is doing quite well, and you can see many happy examples of this species at Weekend Cat Blogging #98, hosted this week by the three lovely striped kitties at Pet's Garden Blog.
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Some “chilling facts” from the Environmental Defense Fund:
1 Rank of 2006 as hottest year on record in the continental United States.
1 Rank of America as top global warming polluter in the world. [though China is doing their best to capture title]
20% Percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990.
15% Percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions forecasted by 2020 if we do not cap pollution.
80% Percent decrease in U.S. global warming pollution required by 2050 to prevent the worst consequences of global warming.
78 Number of days by which the US fire season has increased over the past 20 years – tied closely to increased temperatures and earlier snowmelt.
200 million Number of people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding by 2080.
358 Number of U.S. mayors (representing 55 million Americans) who have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement pledging to meet or beat Kyoto goals in their communities.
0 Number of federal bills passed to cap America's global warming pollution.
0 1 Number of times President Bush has mentioned “climate change” or “global warming” in his previous six State of the Union speeches.
Well, there's more disturbing news on the pet food recall.
First, from MedicineNet:
The massive recall of pet foods expanded again Thursday with the recall of products containing rice protein concentrate imported from China.
Blue Buffalo, of Wilton, Conn., said it was recalling all of its Spa Select Kitten dry food labeled “Best Used By Mar. 07 08 B.” … On Wednesday, Natural Balance Pet Foods, of Pacoima, Calif., recalled all its venison dog products and dry venison cat food after discovering they were contaminated with melamine…
So now it's not just wheat gluten, but rice protein as well, again from China. And also in dry food for kittens. But things get worse:
Meanwhile in South Africa, melamine has been found in Royal Canin pet food company's Vets Choice and Royal Canin dry dog and cat food sold exclusively in South Africa and Namibia. The source of the melamine appears to be from corn gluten imported from China, according to published reports.
Corn gluten is exceptionally scary for us because it's a major ingredient in Luna's food. So far, the contaminated corn gluten has not been found here in the United States, and I can't understand why as the largest corn producer in the world we would get any corn products from China. But it's enough of a scare that I have contacted the manufacturer or Luna's main dry food (which is not one of the main brands in the news) for additional information. I will share whatever information I find on this forum.
For more detailed information on individual brands, I recommend checking in with Pet Connection.
So we have three major food products from China. From the Associated Press:
“Melamine was found in all three of those ? it would certainly lend credibility to the theory that it may be intentional. That will be one of the theories we will pursue when we get into the plants in China,” Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's chief veterinarian, told reporters…FDA investigators were awaiting visas that would allow them to visit the Chinese plants where the vegetable protein ingredients were produced.
Good luck to the FDA getting any honest information on a visit to China if it ever happens. But there are questions about the FDA in this whole issue. On one hand, they are now floating the theory that melamine was introduced to purposely increase measured protein content. From David Goldstein at the Huffington Post:
One would expect the FDA to test this theory by directly measuring protein levels in melamine-contaminated samples to see if they otherwise fall below grade. One would also expect the FDA to release the names of all importers, distributors and manufacturers who are suspected of handling contaminated product. But then, one would expect a lot of things from the FDA that they have thus far failed to deliver.
Why are the FDA so slow to name names, particularly when it comes to the Chinese manufacturers and the US distributors that do business with them? Indeed, why don't we simply stop all Chinese imports of these ingredients?
Given the facts, it is now reasonable to assume either massive, industry-wide negligence, or intentional contamination, and that all Chinese produced high-protein food additives are now suspect.
China is becoming the Pakistan of food quality, and the danger is spreading to the human food supply (for those who are unmoved by the suffering of our companion animals). You have to wonder if there is politcal pressure not to go after China for this, as they are such an important partner for the big business interests in the U.S.
To date, 4,346 deceased pets reported by Pet Connection. We at CatSynth do not want to see this number continue to grow…
hehe, crack upen a window!