Lifestyle Hub
Dog butcher sentenced to 3 months in prison
| Innocent AnimalsA golf course employee stole a golf player's 8 month old puppy, took it home and butchered it, however, it isn't clear from the news reports whether he ate it or not before the police came. Last week the dog killer/butcher was sentenced to 3 months in prison, fined $500, ordered to complete 400 hours of community service, and given three years of probation. He was convicted of felony animal cruelty.
Wienermobile Crashes Into Wisconsin Home
| Innocent AnimalsSome people really love their Oscar Mayer Wieners and according to the Wienermobile horn, which plays the Oscar Mayer jingle, some people (who obviously have no consciousness of what they are saying) actually want to be wieners, but I am not sure that too many people love wieners so much that they want the Wienermobile as part of their home as happened to a Wisconsin homeowner last Saturday, July 18, 2009. (These Wienermobiles are generating a lot of interest lately aren't they!)
Legislative sledgehammer vs. fixing the problem
| Health & WellnessIn an effort to address food-contamination issues—such as salmonella in spinach and peanuts—certain Congressmen and -women as well as U.S. Senators are pushing legislation that would bury American farmers, food producers and other food and cosmetic businesses in yet more red tape and regulations.
Non-GMO Project Experiences Rapid Growth
| GMOsThe following is from a Non-GMO Project press release received today:
July 16th, 2009— The trend toward Non-GMO Project Verification is expanding dramatically, with recent signs including a doubling of product enrollment and an announcement by Whole Foods Market that they will be verifying their private label products through the Non-GMO Project (blogger note: even though I hate mentioning those guys it is the news and their joining the Non-GMO Project is a big plus for the common goal of reducing and hopefully eliminating GMOs from our foods).
Malpractice Insurance and defensive medicine costs
| Health & WellnessAnother cost to be considered in the access to health care debate along with the huge costs of lifestyle preventable diseases caused by tobacco and other intoxicants, diet, and lack of exercise that I blogged on yesterday, is the costs to the medical system of medical malpractice insurance. The actual costs are hard to come by but are of two types, direct and indirect (indirect costs are the costs of unnecessary tests and treatments ordered by doctors solely to protect themselves from getting sued).
Health care debate should be about how to reduce the incidence of disease
| Health & WellnessSpeaking about tobacco health care related costs which are estimated at $96 billion per year, that figure is dwarfed by the health care costs and productivity losses associated with just 5 diet related chronic diseases which are estimated at $864 billion per year.
Tobacco health care costs equal to the cost of the President's health care proposal
| Health & WellnessAs we are about to be asked to pay $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years in extending medical insurance benefits to almost everyone in the nation, President Obama's "struggle with smoking" becomes more relevant. The annual US health care costs related to tobacco related illness is estimated at an astounding $96 billion, with a further loss of productivity cost of $97 billion. The total health care and lost productivity costs per packet of cigarettes are estimated at $10.28, whereas the average cost of a packet of cigarettes including sales tax is less than half that at approx. $4.80.
GMO crops are big big business in Hawaii
| GMOsIn a scary story published by Pacific Business News on Friday, July 10, 2009 the size of Hawaii's GMO industry, and its growing importance to the Hawaii economy was detailed.
Oscar G. Mayer dies at 95
| Innocent AnimalsJuly 8, 2009: Oscar G Mayer, retired chairman of the Wisconsin-based meat processing company that bears his name, has died at the age of 95. He was the third Oscar Mayer in the family that founded Oscar Mayer Foods, which was once the largest private employer in Madison. Mayer retired as chairman of the board in 1977 at age 62 soon after the company recorded its first $1 billion year. The company was later sold to General Foods and is now a business unit of Kraft.
Maui County Council to Vote on GMO Taro
| GMOs, | Industry LegislationThis Thursday, July 16, the Maui County Council is scheduled to vote on a bill to protect taro from genetic modification. Maui residents should contact their council member to ask them to vote in favor of protecting taro. The following is from KAHEA's, The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance, email dated July 9, 2009: