Worldview Wake-Up: The Price of Fashion
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Fashion claims more victims than you think.
Image courtesy of World Wildlife Fund and Adoholic.com
What the Hell - More Food Recalls?
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Is it just me or does there seem to a be a million recalls going around these days: cars, beef, jewelry for kids, roman shades, car seats, tires... the list is surprisingly long and upsetting. Now comes news that there is yet another recall, this time targeting different processed foods.
"The FDA actively investigating findings of Salmonella Tennessee in hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) manufactured by Basic Food Flavors, Inc., in Las Vegas, NV. HVP is a flavor enhancer used in a wide variety of processed food products, such as soups, sauces, chilis, stews, hot dogs, gravies, seasoned snack foods, dips, and dressings. It is often blended with other spices to make seasonings that are used in or on foods.
"At this time, no illnesses associated with this contamination have been reported to the FDA"
Not yet, at least or maybe people are too sick to call them. Who knows?
The moral for today: be careful what you eat.
For a list of products affected by Salmonella in HVP, please visit the FDA website and don't forget to double-check your kitchen cabinets for any of these items. You don't want to be the first one calling the FDA or the CDC. By the way... Reser's - I'm surprised the recall information on your home page is on the small side, while you maintain this huge animated banner that says "Fun times made easy." Sure, fun times puking in the toilet bowl. I'm just saying.
-RK
Image of Tim's Cascade Hawaiian Sweet Maui Onion Rings courtesy of Tasty Island Hawaii
Child Labor - Everyone's Doing It!
Monday, March 01, 2010
According to the Telegraph, Apple has used child labor in the past in the manufacture of iPods, iPhones and Apple computers. In 2008, at least 25 underage workers were found in factories that Apples uses.
In an annual report, Apple said "In each of the three facilities, we required a review of all employment records for the year as well as a complete analysis of the hiring process to clarify how underage people had been able to gain employment."
This isn't the first time Apple has come under scrutiny for using child labor. They've been criticized for years for providing inadequate work environment. The Telegraph reports that last week, more than 60 workers from a factory run by Wintek in Suzhou China were poisoned by n-Hexane, a bad-ass toxin that screws-up your eyes and can mess with your muscles.
Although these reports of child labor and sweatshop conditions come out from time to time about Apple, the company continues to use these factories and have not made an effort to rectify the situation.
Steve Jobs - this may surprise you, but you can do something about this, you know. You can ensure that these factory workers are not over-worked and get paid a fair wage. You can ensure health benefits. You can ensure ample amounts of time for these factory workers to eat a meal. Heck - you can probably afford to have these workers fed lunch a few days a week. You can ensure that no child will ever work in one of these factories. You can ensure that the work environment is safe and not full of toxic crap that can kill people. You can do all this instead of looking away.
- RK
Image of iPad courtesy of Apple
Oh, Tiger...
Thursday, February 25, 2010
It still boggles my mind that the whole Tiger Woods fiasco is still making headlines. I'm tired of hearing about it already. Aren't you? Maybe not. Anyway, I got a big laugh this morning when I heard PETA wants to put the ad below on a billboard near the town of Windermere, Florida where Tiger lives. We'll see how that goes. Yeah, the ad is funny, but then I think about Tiger's young kids and wife and... then it's not so funny. I guess I'm torn. What do you think? Did PETA go to far again?
The thought behind the ad? Spaying and neutering - cats, that is:
"One unspayed female cat and her offspring can produce an estimated 420,000 cats in only seven years, and a female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years. Many of those animals end up unwanted and unloved, often dropped off at animal shelters that are already bursting at the seams.
"Just as we all know and accept that the sky is blue, we know that every time a breeder or pet store sells an animal, an animal in an animal shelter loses his or her life."
Just another day at the office, right?
- RK
Worldview Wake-Up: Global Warming is Still Around...
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Bill Nye The Science Guy and meteorologist Joe Bastardi did a quick two-step the other day on The O'Reilly Factor debating, what else, man-made global warming. Bil was calm and cool and I'm pretty sure Joe's blood pressure was boiling. The Science Guy - 1, Joe Bastardi - negative 1.
- RK
Comments
steamless pipe commented on 10-Mar-2010 10:33 PM
WOW.SO INTERESTING.