DadTalk

Scenes From Immigration Rally

I brought my camera with me for a work-related project before realizing it was May Day, which means Immigration Rally.

Since 2007, I’ve watched the rallies directly from my place of work. In 2006, I was in Los Angeles. This and last year, the protesters passed in front of my office window.

Since working in the financial sector, I’ve heard a handful of derogatory and distasteful remarks about immigrants, especially Hispanics. But the rally was peaceful, at least, when it passed my vantage point on Jackson Boulevard.

I’ve included more photos on the jump.

Food recalls FDA Expands Recalls of Honduran Cantaloupes

When we moved to California in 1998, we quickly gave up cantaloupe and honeydew melons. Why? Because those two fruits have become the white-bread of the melon world.

Instead, we feasted on Crenshaws, Ogens and Santa Claus melons. One taste of those and our interest in over-commercialized cantaloupes and honeydews quickly disappeared.

Sadly, I live in Chicago now. This winter I finally gave in and bought a cantaloupe two weeks ago and a honeydew this week. They tasted sugary, yet flavorless.

At least I did not get salmonella poisoning. Cases of the illness have been linked to a Honduran grower named Agropecuaria Montelibano, which has been fighting massive recalls in this nation and Canada. (Fortunately for me, the cantaloupe and honeydew I ate were from Guatemala.)

Honduras enlisted its President, Manuel Zelaya, to prove they are safe, reports CNN:

New Maps Paint Vivid Picture of Ocean Damage

Not to take anything away from the global warming debate, but for the last two years, I’ve been more concerned about the world’s oceans.

More than 40 percent of the world’s waters are severely compromised, according to new ocean maps that chart how human activity has been damaging our ecosystems. The maps were created by researchers from the U.S., Canada and Britain, who spent four years on the project, reports ScienceNow.

How bad are human impacts on water? Writes ScienceNow:

The data suggest, for example, that ecosystems found in rocky reefs and on continental shelves “are being impacted even more” than coastal coral reefs, which get much more attention. But coral reefs are in bad shape themselves: The map indicates that nearly half of global reefs are experiencing serious, multiple impacts, including damage from fishing and ocean acidification.

While the maps are not perfect, they offer a vivid picture of how human activity is damaging an irreplaceable resource. Writes The Washington Post:

Why Did It Take Economists so Long to Figure It all Out?

A Time line of Sorts:

If the Fed is wrong, the housing market and economy might collapse and bring America into a new recession. We should know which way the coin flipped by the end of the year.
– Me, 08/11/2004

“It may not happen in that order – and I can’t give a precise time line – but I believe an extremely difficult recession will begin late this year or early next. Please remember, I say this not as an expert, but layman. Then again, the experts predicted the housing market would surge indefinitely.”
– Me, 08/19/2007

“I don’t like the fact that the economy is headed for what I suspect will be the worst recession in our lifetimes. And I don’t like to unnecessarily alarm people.”
– Me, 11/21/2007

“The recent financial turmoil has many causes, but they are tied to a basic fear that some of the economic successes of the last generation may yet turn out to be a mirage.”
– David Leonhardt, New York Times, 01/23/08

“But a recession is now more likely than not. It may well have started already. The Philadelphia Fed reported Tuesday that the economy shrunk in 23 states last month, including Ohio, Missouri and Arizona, and was stagnant in seven others. California and Florida, with their plunging home values, may soon join the recession list.”
– David Leonhardt, New York Times, 01/23/08

Finally, after huge credit bubbles precipitated the ridiculous run up in home prices, Asia finally sent the wake up call that too many  American economists and business leaders failed to hear: something is seriously wrong with the U.S. economy.

Massive losses by U.S. financial institutions and sizable market sell offs in the United States were not enough to convince Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke to take serious action. Ironically, it was President Bush’s attempt to shore up the economy that helped trigger the huge drop in Asian markets that finally persuaded the Fed to cut interest rates by a whopping 75 basis points. Here’s an excerpt from the emergency announcement:

Book Review It’s Good to Be Bad

I reviewed this book for my wife’s site, Bookbuds.

Evil Genius
by Catherine Jinks
Harcourt Children’s Books

Evil Genius is a better-than-usual attempt at capitalizing on the Harry Potter phenomenon. In this version, Cadel Piggott, who is being raised by nasty, uncaring parents, is directed toward the Axis Institute, a school for criminals seeking world domination.

Cadel hopes to find acceptance at his new school, but intrigues – such as the rapidly declining student body – test the boy’s super talents. Along the way, Cadel learns about his father’s evil plans, a little humility and more importantly, about his true nature.

While the discovery process is fun, creative characters and complex subplots blow by without much clarity; it’s a wonder an adult, much less young adult, can follow without a scorecard. Worse, it’s hard to really like and identify with any characters in this 496-page book. Still, I can’t help suspect that Evil Genius will be enjoyed by bored, smart teenagers who dream of running the world. 

Stumble It!

Blowback From Using Corn as a Petroleum Substitute

Sometimes being “green” can be bad for us and those less fortunate. It feels odd to write those words, but mandatory ethanol production has a lot of unintended consequences.

The most notable to Americans is rising food prices, writes The New York Times. As you can see from the chart, it’s not your imagination that feeding our kids is getting ever-more pricy. Until now, I thought more expensive mini-wheats was just a feature of living in the big city, but apparently food prices have risen sharply since I left California and moved to Chicago.

There are two primary culprits, which are inextricably linked: 1. higher oil prices, which make it more expensive to grow, harvest and ship food. 2. The subsequent rise of corn-made ethanol.

Fishy Practices, Antibiotic Usage Is Just Plain Sick

As much as I write about the problems with lead in toys, I’m aware there are far greater dangers that face our families. Think cars and traffic. Think air pollution. Think FOOD and food production.

There are two examples in The New York Times this week of just how dangerous “modern” farming techniques are to adults and children alike.

In China, Farming Fish in Toxic Waters is a frightening reminder that some fish farmers are using unfit for water to produce food we eat. That’s because the water is “contaminated by sewage, industrial waste and agricultural runoff that includes pesticides,” reports the Times. Equally dangerous is the intensive use of antibiotics – some of them banned – in overcrowded fish pens.

“There are heavy metals, mercury and flame retardants in fish samples we’ve tested,” Ming Hung Wong, a professor of biology at Hong Kong Baptist University, tells the Times. “We’ve got to stop the pollutants entering the food system.”

How Looming Economic Woes Will Trickle Down to American Families

Debates are raging across the blogosphere about whether there should be a bailout for the housing crises. In American politics, it’s already been decided there needs to be one; the debate is how big and for whom.

Here’s what we’ve seen so far:

• A Bush plan to freeze mortgage interest rates for a very limited number of homeowners. It will be amazing if this plan helps more than 100,000 Americans out of the roughly 2 million facing mortgage resets. (Failure out of the starting gate.)
• A Federal Reserve plan designed to allow banks wider access to credit via international credit auctions. The Term Auction Facility, as this plan is being called, allows cash-strapped banks to borrow money at a slightly better rate than they currently can. (A small solution for a HUGE problem.)
• A super Structured Investment Vehicle Fund that allows banks to sell their highest-quality junk before writing off their worst quality junk. (Starting to look like a failure.)
• The Fed has lowered the lending rate several times. (This has failed to help the credit markets, but has done much to devalue the dollar and our homes via inflation even further. Total failure.)

So dear parent, I bet you are wondering what all this means to you. Nothing. And everything.

Food Recalls Agencies Slow to Act on Lead Found in Mexican Candies

It’s bad enough when lead is in toys and other objects. It’s downright horrifying when it shows up in candy.

But most frightening of all is how long a contaminated food product stays on the market after problems have been discovered. Take Barrilito, a Mexican-made, dark, syrupy candy that was recalled on December 4th by the Food and Drug Administration after it was found to contain lead at 0.101 to 0.132 parts per million. The FDA warns that lead above 0.1. parts per million is “a potential public health hazard.”

While the recall was jointly announced December 4th  by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the FDA, the e-mail alert wasn’t sent out until Dec. 12th. Why the long delay on a food product recall?

The FDA also delayed sending an e-mail alert on Queso Fresco Cheese, which it recalled December 6th for listeria contamination. Listeria can result in stillbirths and endanger immune-compromised individuals. Waiting six to eight days to send food recall alerts seems extraordinarily negligent.

But lets get back to the lead-in-candy story, which goes deeper back in time. Hunting around for more information, it turns out the California Department of Public Health warned the public to stop eating Barrilito on August 22nd. That’s nearly four months ago!

Recalls CPSC Recalls 260,000 Pairs of Sunglasses

My kids love cheap sunglasses. And to be honest, they look so cool in those brightly-colored shades.

So it grieves but doesn’t surprise me to say that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling about 260,000 pairs of children’s sunglasses sold by FGX International because of excessive levels of lead paint.

The recall includes 15 styles of Chinese-made sunglasses that were sold from January 2007 through November 2007 at a variety of stores nationwide. I would be highly suspect of those made before then as well.

Here is a list of style names:

• Balloon
• Bond
• Boom
• Bubble Gum
• Bullseye
• Buzz
• Conqueror Jr.
• Curly Q
• Encompass Jr. IK
• Fade IK
• Gadget IK
• Iceman
• Lily
• Outer Space
• Pluto