I don’t really like turkey, anyway

~ susie

02. Turkey

I go for the cranberry sauce:

The largest-ever U.S. outbreak of avian influenza, which has devastated Midwestern poultry and egg producers in recent weeks, could be felt at Thanksgiving tables across the nation come November, farmers and some trade groups say.

The virulent H5N2 strain has already spread to 14 states and led to the deaths or scheduled euthanizations of more than 21 million birds, including 3.3 million turkeys in Minnesota, the nation’s top turkey producer.

And now, with Thanksgiving just seven months away, farmers say they may be running out of time to raise enough turkeys –the traditional centerpiece of holiday feasts – to meet the demand.

Once a farm has been infected, flocks must be culled, composted in barns, then disposed of. Buildings must then be thoroughly disinfected. The whole process can take up to three months before a new flock of turkey poults can be brought in, said Steve Olson, executive director of the Minnesota Turkey Growers Association.

They don’t bother with silly stuff like retractions

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

new york times

They’re too busy scraping the scrambled eggs off their faces

Broadcast media and major newspapers are ignoring the State Department’s determination that there is no evidence to support allegations made by Republican activist and discredited author Peter Schweizer in his book, Clinton Cash, that Hillary Clinton’s actions as secretary of state were influenced by donations to the Clinton Foundation — despite the fact that many of these media outlets previously highlighted Schweizer’s allegations after receiving advanced excerpts of the book and entering into exclusive agreements with the author to report on its storylines.

On May 4, State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke said that the department is “not aware of any evidence that actions taken by Secretary Clinton were influenced by donation to the Clinton Foundation or speech on honoraria of former President Clinton.” The statement came ahead of the official release of Clinton Cash, Republican activist and consultant Peter Schweizer’s book which alleges unethical ties between Hillary Clinton’s actions as secretary of state and foreign government donations to the Clinton Foundation.

Broadcast media and major newspapers have fallen silent following the State Department’s assertion that they “are not aware of any evidence to suggest that there was any influence.” Neither Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, nor NBC reported on State’s assertion in their May 4 evening broadcasts. Major newspapers including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, and Time magazine failed to report on the State Department’s response, despite many having received advanced excerpts from the book and having previously entered into “exclusive agreements” with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer to report on “storylines found in the book.”

Still doing stupid shit that makes people hate the IRS

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

Is It Possible To Run A Business With Limited Funds?

Whenever we pass a law that could be applied to people not intended as targets, you can bet your ass that eventually it will be applied:

Wielding a banking law intended to thwart drug trafficking and money laundering, the IRS has a new target in its sights: a rural convenience store that sells catfish sandwiches.

Lyndon McLellan lost over $107,000 in an IRS raid after the agency seized the bank account belonging to his small business, L&M Convenience Mart in Fairmont, North Carolina. “It took me 13 years to save that much money and it took fewer than 13 seconds for the government to take it away,” he said.

For over a decade, Lyndon has run his mart, an unassuming place where locals stock up on soft drinks and cigarettes. But last year, the IRS wiped out the shop’s bank account using the Bank Secrecy Act. Under this law, banks must report all cash transactions over $10,000. Federal law also prohibits “structuring” deposits in amounts under $10,000 to skirt the reporting requirement.

But making frequent cash deposits under $10,000 is only a crime if someone deliberately intends to evade filing those reports. Lyndon had no such intention. According to his niece, who usually made deposits, a bank teller told her that depositing less than $10,000 would avoid burdensome paperwork. Moreover, forfeiting Lyndon’s cash would violate his constitutional right to due process and the Eighth Amendment’s protection against “excessive fines.”

California crops and oil wastewater

~ susie ~ 4 Comments

WATER & OIL

This doesn’t just affect California’s — most of the nation’s produce is grown there. So it seems urgent that this is dealt with:

Until now, government authorities have only required limited testing of recycled irrigation water, checking for naturally occurring toxins such as salts and arsenic, using decades-old monitoring standards. They haven’t screened for the range of chemicals used in modern oil production.

No one knows whether nuts, citrus or other crops grown with the recycled oil field water have been contaminated. Farmers may test crops for pests or disease, but they don’t check for water-borne chemicals. Instead, they rely on oversight by state and local water authorities. But experts say that testing of both the water and the produce should be expanded.

Last month, the Central Valley water authority, which regulates the water recycling program, notified all oil producers of new, broader testing requirements and ordered the companies to begin checking for chemicals covered under California’s new fracking disclosure regulations. The law, which legislators approved last year, requires oil companies to tell the state which chemicals they use in oil-extraction processes. The water authority gave producers until June 15 to report their results.

“We need to make sure we fully understand what goes into the wastewater,” said Clay Rodgers, assistant executive officer of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board.
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Dark money

~ susie

corinthian colleges
Lee Fang takes a look at the bankruptcy filing for the for-profit Corinthian Colleges, and comes up with the usual suspects — on both sides of the aisle, but of course much more to the Repug side:

The filing doesn’t list amounts, but shows that Corinthian made payments to Crossroads G.P.S., a group co-founded by Karl Rove that has raised over $300 million to elect Republican members of Congress through campaign advertising. Crossroads G.P.S., a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, does not disclose any of its donors.

Crossroads G.P.S. spent over $700,000 to help elect Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., during his 2010 election. As Bloomberg News revealed, Rubio later filed a letter with the Department of Education, requesting that the agency “demonstrate leniency” with Corinthian.

Corinthian registered only two lobbying firms last year — Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Akerman LLP. But the filing shows that Corinthian also paid a myriad of other consulting firms that work to influence the political process.

Corinthian’s creditor list includes: TheGroup DC LLC, a public affairs firmfounded by Art Collins, an advisor to Barack Obama’s 2008 election; Stanton Communications Inc., a firm that specializes in “crisis management”; and Strategic Partnerships LLC, a Virginia-based public affairs company founded by Kenneth Smith, a former Reagan administration advisor who now serves as the president of Jobs for America’s Graduates, Inc.

APCO Worldwide, a lobbying firm, is among the Corinthian creditors, though the firm never registered to represent Corinthian under the Lobbing Disclosure Act.

The listing reveals a number of payments to influential D.C. groups that have battled regulations on the for-profit college industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commere is listed multiple times as a Corinthian creditor. The Chamber has run campaign advertisements on behalf of opponents of the Department of Education’s “gainful employment” regulation, which would measure the performance of vocational programs. The Chamber made defeating the rules a top priority.
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