Recall

No, it’s not another Los Osos Recall, but this time, it’s for Dog & Cat Food

The following press release came from Whole Dog Journal. If you own a dog or cat, please visit the website and check out the recalled food being listed. So far as I know, it applies only to wet, canned food and/or soft-food in pouches, the suspected poison coming from wheat gluten.

Dear ANN CALHOUN,
On Friday, March 16, Menu Foods, a contract manufacturer of wet pet foods, announced that it was recalling millions of containers (cans and foil pouches) of wet dog food and cat food. The company said the recalled products were made between December 3 and March 6 for dozens of different pet food companies and sold under more than 50 brand names. The recall was prompted by reports of the deaths of at least 10 dogs and cats, as well as reports of dozens more animals who suffered acute kidney failure after eating the implicated products. The foods were sold in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada and sold by major retailers including Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Safeway.
A complete list of the recalled products, along with product codes, descriptions, and production codes, is available from the Menu Foods website at www.menufoods.com/recall or by calling the company at (866) 895-2708. Check the list often; at the time of release of this message, Menu Foods had added more products to the recall list at least twice since its initial release.
Also, several foods that (as of the release of this message) are NOT on the recall list but were manufactured by Menu are being recalled by their companies. Most notable are five Science Diet wet cat foods.
Menu said in a statement that tests of its food had “failed to identify any issues with the products in question.” However, Sarah Tuite, a spokeswoman for Menu Foods, told the New York Times that Menu did associate the timing of the reported deaths with its use of a new supplier for wheat gluten (in our opinion, a low-quality source of protein). The company has since switched back to its former source for wheat gluten.
Most of the products on the recall list are inexpensive "store brands," made for grocery store retail outlets under a variety of names. The major exceptions to this are Iams and Eukanuba, products recognized by most pet owners due to their healthy market share, heavy marketing, and pervasive presence in almost every pet supply chain.
So far, only two foods that have made an appearance on a WDJ "top foods" list have also appeared on the recall list: Nutro's Ultra and Nutro Natural Choice. The Nutro product featured in the 2007 list of "top wet foods," "Nutro Natural Choice Chicken, Rice, and Oatmeal" variety, does not contain wheat gluten and is not on the recall list. However, the Nutro product highlighted on WDJ's 2006 list, Nutro's Ultra Holistic, does contain wheat gluten and is on the recall list.
Owners who fed any of the recalled products in the past three months should be alert for signs of kidney failure in their pets: extreme lethargy, a sudden change in the amount the animal drinks or urinates, jaundice (indicated by the yellowing of the animal's skin and/or whites of eyes), inappetence, and vomiting. As always, if your pet suddenly declines to eat a food he or she has previously enjoyed, cease feeding the product and call the manufacturer with the product date code for more information. Always contact your veterinarian promptly if your animal shows signs of illness.

Thank you,The Whole Dog Journal Team

Put Out The Cat . . . Puuuutttttt outttt the caaaattttt….

Headline in Sunday’s Tribune: “Default may hurt chances for sewer loan; $6.5 million is still owed from scrapped project; county must arrange payback before getting more state money.”


First off, it’s not the county’s job to “arrange payback” of anything. They’re working on various possibilities for various sewer plans, some of which might require an SRF loan, some might not. (The problem with the SRF loan is that the Governor’s signing statement may be in legal conflict with the Blakeslee bill, something that should be resolved before we get any more headline stories like this one, doncha think?)


But second, I kept wondering, Why was this story on the front page? It’s not “news,” it’s not even “new.” But it does send that soft subliminal message that the only way Los Osos can get a sewer built is via the State Revolving Loan and that the County is responsible for paying back the defaulted loan. Neither of which is news or even true, so I had to wonder Why this story? Then I remembered, the Gary Larsen Far Side cartoon:

Guy’s asleep in bed with The Cat by his side. Peering through the bedroom window is The Dog, whispering his little subliminal message: “Put out the cat. Puuuutttt outtt the caaaattttt……”

Keep it up, Trib, and pretty soon all of Los Osos will KNOW that the sun sets in the east and that the ONLY sewer project they will be allowed to vote on will require a SRF loan. Putttt outttt the caaatttttt.

May I Pre-Chew Your Food For You?

On of the regular anonymous commentors on this blog site responded to my notice that there would be a March 18 benefit for The Los Osos 45’s legal appeal by Citizens for Clean Water (PZLDF, more donations of which can be made at Coast Bank, next to the Post Office), a barbeque with prizes, and live music from Garth Wilwand as well as Sweetrock, (a BBQ that was well attended, not a single bean left over, lot of fun had by all) by first noting that he/she wanted nothing to do with PZLDF, to which I suggested that at the very least she/he get a copy of the appeal brief filed with the State Water Board and read it to see what legal issues regarding the CDOs were being questioned. (This becomes particularly apt since the CSD, as a designated party, is also signed on with attorney Shauna Sullivan and is filing that brief as well, which means it involves everyone in the community, not just The Los Osos 45 friends and neighbors.) Herewith was part of his/her reply:

You’re the one asking me to change my opinion about the PZLDF. Let’s pretend for a moment that I am busy and you really want to convince me (and others) that PZLDF is actually worth supporting. Maybe it would be a good idea for you to make it easy for us to see Sullivan’s “brief.” You tell us that we should go and do the research. Honestly, because I don’t think it will change my mind, I’m not going to take the effort to hunt it
down, but if you make it easy to access, I’ll read it. But I’ll need convincing and if you don’t want to try, you can count on not getting my $10.

First off, for non-regular readers, this particular anonymous poster is known for the HOURS he/she has spent running up figures and numbers and posting them to “prove” whatever financial arguments she/he wished to make. (I likened it to medieval monks who spent years debating exactly how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.) And he/she is a regular poster, which also involves considerable time and effort responding to the original post as well as responding to other poster’s responses, so it cannot be said this person lacks diligence.) And she/he has always been critical of my and other’s opinions, to which I have constantly replied, Fine, Go look at the documents themselves, then make your own judgments.

Yet there it finally was, a perfect example of Reason # 3958234290423892 Why Los Osos Flew Off The Cliff – Can’t be bothered to get off my duff and do a little homework, do it for me, would you?

To which I can only reply: Waaaah-Waaaahhh, You want me to Pre-Chew your food for you, too? How’s about digesting it for you as well?

Yikes! Being a government of and by and for the people requires SOME effort BY the people. If not, you get a citizenry of babies who will get exactly what Big Uncle Daddy decides to give them and if they cry, Big Auntie Mommy will come spank.

Speaking of which, the Sewer TAC has now been picked. PAY ATTENTION LOS OSOS

The new 14-member citizens committee to “establish pros and cons for sewer alternatives” has been selected. Their meetings will be held under Brown Act rules, which means they’ll be open to the public (Let’s hope they’ll be held at a time when most people can attend, i.e. in the evening after work hours?) and there will be a properly agendized time for the public to comment and all documents will be open to scrutiny.

Unlike the Pablum-Seeking blog commentor above, I hope many Los Ososians will get off their duffs and attend those TAC meetings and get informed and stay informed. Otherwise, Big Uncle Daddy will dump a large glop of extremely expensive cold gruel on their plate, then hand them an astronomical bill.

More Chances to Speak Out.

Los Osos residents, Bill Moylan, Karen Venditti, Judy Vick and Keith Wimer, have started a new “Viewpoint” section in the Bay News, “Let’s Talk Los Osos,” wherein they encourage readers to send in questions or comments to letstalklo@gmail.com. The various reader comments will be used in their column to raise issues or share information. Furthermore, the Bay news also encourages residents to send letters to their Editor at news@thebaynews.net. So, start your computers!

Sewage Spills, We Still Got Sewage Spills.

Tribune’s March 17 story: “An estimated 50,000 gallons of sewage spilled Wednesday and Thursday after a buildup of grease in a sewer line caused sewage to back up and flow out a manhole at 410 E. Branch St. in the Village. An unknown amount of sewage flowed into the nearby creek.
“The manhole was in a hard-to-see area, according to city officials, so the leak wasn’t detected for about 24 hours.”

Needless to say, this was a gravity system, which allows for these kinds of undetected spills. Mr. Bob Stark had this in the March 19th Tribune Letters on the spill:

More is enough.
More sewage spills, more beach closings, more creek foulings. Not in Los Osos, and there will never be as long as the septic tanks are used and only the effluent is treated [i.e. a pressurized STEP/STEG system].
Grease can only plug one tank and not the entire community. The dangers of gravity collection systems how up in the papers all the time for those that do not heed the warning signs.
No, Los Osos is not going down that path, thank you.

Well, as for going down that path, that remains to be seen. Certainly, STEP systems would have sounded a warning bell so the operator could have closed off any break quickly since there are no “hard-to-see” areas in such a system. And if Los Osos were gravity-pipe sewered and such a break occurred in a hard-to-see area near the Bay, well 50,000 gallons . . . .? I would hate to think of the RWQCB fine that would follow such a break.

But will the citizens of Los Osos connect the Gravity Pipe-Sewage Spill dots? They will if the Tribune starts running some Puuuuttt outttt the caaaatttt “news” stories on gravity vs. STEP systems. Until then, they’re on their own.

Connnneeccctttt the dotttttts …. Conneccttttt theeee dotttsssssss…..

Calhoun’s Cannons, The Bay News, Morro Bay CA, for March 14, 2007

And Your Problem Is?

It’s no good running a pig farm badly for thirty years while saying, “Really I was meant to be a ballet dancer.” By that time, pigs will be your style.
Quentin Crisp .

I don’t get it. Why the hand-wringing now over the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed hospital? The conditions at Walter Reed are simply the logical result of the President and the Republican-held congress’s privatization ideology at work: “Government isn’t the solution; Government is the problem.” (Many management functions at Walter Reed were outsourced to a company called IAP Worldwide Services. IAP is now being managed by two former executives with Kellogg, Brown & Root, which is a subsidiary of Halliburton, a name that should ring a bell.) So Walter Reed was brought to you by some of the same people who brought you the outsourced Iraq war, the outsourced, crony contract governmental response to Katrina and soon, The President’s Great Surge In Iraq that will ensure even more good men and women will be arriving at Walter Reed in need of more outsourced, privatized care. So, why is anyone getting upset? Clearly, pigs are this administration’s style.

Sure, the polls show that Bush & Co are not held in very high esteem right now, but the very people answering the polls are the very same people who elected these guys . . . not once, but repeatedly. Even more telling, when the voters had an opportunity in this last election to completely change the balance of Congress, they voted to maintain the status quo: Congress just barely changed hands, which means it isn’t veto-proof, it isn’t filibuster-proof and there isn’t a sufficient majority to make major needed changes or look into any administrative High Crimes and Misdemeanors more serious than lying about semen on a blue dress. Instead, the voters returned to power senators and congressmen from both parties who failed in their oversight duties because they put political self interest and partisan power politics above the national interest. Once again, the voters chose a government run by people who have contempt for and so can’t be bothered to actually run a government competently. Pigs are their style, too.

Which means that we’ve got an electorate that was satisfied enough with the way the country is going so they made sure it would pretty much remain business as usual down on K Street. Which means more ginned-up intel, a continuing crony-outsourced bungled War On The Cheap, budget slashes to the VA program, privatized overburdened facilities unprepared for returning injured soldiers, a national debt that threatens the republic itself, corporate war profiteering, Guns and Butter tax cuts, ignored domestic problems like universal health insurance, no jobs, crumbling infrastructure, and the threats from global warming all going begging while congress focuses on a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, all of which is exactly what the American people voted for repeatedly. So, what’s the problem?

At a conservative gathering, best-selling author and self-described “satirist” Ann Coulter used the offensive “F- word” epithet to imply that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards is gay. It was a two-fer-one jab; slam the Demos, slam the gays. In the room, some of the biggest movers and shakers within the conservative movement all roared with laughter. Later, when the comment became public, Republican presidential candidates fell all over themselves to put distance between themselves and Coulter. Why? Pigs have always been her style. She was and is the conservative’s darling Point Woman of Wedge Politics, a political tactic that American voters respond to like Pavlov’s dogs. So, why the for-public-consumption-only squeamishness now?


And so it goes. Chickens coming home to roost, skeletons falling out of closets (The Vice President’s chief of staff now a convicted felon; how long until a Presidential Pardon comes hustling down the Pike?), more lies, more hypocrisy, more incompetence, more treasury-looting by the crony kleptocracy, more ordinary lives damaged beyond measure while faux outrage chuffs across the media screens.

It’s all entertaining, but useless because the American people got exactly what they asked for, not once, but numerous times. Pigs are indeed now our style, so we’d better put on hip boots and grab a shovel. With the level of muck in our self-created, bankrupt barnyard, ballet slippers will be inappropriate footwear for a long, long time.

Time To Put Up Or Hush Up

The Tribune's been carrying a series on meth addiction for the past few days. In the March 13 story, written by AnnMarie Cornejo, it notes "County short on space for treatment," noting that there simply is a shortage of in-house treatment centers available. (There used to be a full program at French Hospital years ago, a program covered by medical insurance & etc. but that's long gone. And, of course, County General's long gone too.)

Cornejo's story continues, "Now, there's another effort to bring a second residential facility to the county. San Luis Obispo based nonprofit Project Ament hopes to transition from a sober living house to [a]16-bed residential facility by the end of the year." . . . "Such centers are important because they go beyond standard outpatient treatment programs and sober living houses by offering a multifaceted approach to recovery that includes mental health couseling and extended treatment." . . . "Increasingly, this approiach is viewed as critical."

Furthermore, in New Times a few weeks ago, there was a blurb that noted: "Welcome donations and clients. Project Amend (782-9600) is seeking donations of funds, twin beds, and bedding and labor, including painting. New recovery clients are also welcome. The admittance fee is $425, with some free placements also available."

So, stop reading this blog. Reading this blog never made a difference to anything or anyone. Instead, close your computer, pick up the phone and give the good folks running Project Amend a call and see what they need. Gently used towels? Sheets? Some new pillows (check the bedding sales) What about gently used dishes and cups? Kids toys? Games? Books? Whatever. Here's a great chance to make a real difference in a life, or two or three.

Thank you.

Speaking of Wasting Time Reading Blogs

Heard that the County Engineering staff has made their picks for people they recommend will be serving on the TAC for the Hideous Los Osos Sewer. I tried accessing the web page but it's having indigestion problems and isn't working for some weird reason. Will try again later. (go wo www.slocounty.ca.gov/PW/LOWW.p.htm) to see who they've picked. The BOS will vote on accepting them at their March 20 meeting.

If you have any objections or suggestions on the staff picks, you can email the BOS and put in your two cents worth. But remember, the TAC is like all "advisory" boards: There for window dressing (See? We're "listening" to the community for its "valued input," now go away, thank you) and once in a while, if everyone gets lucky, Advisory Boards or Committees can actually come up with "advice" that's actually listened to and that can make a real difference. But, it's not something that anyone should bet on.

God Bless all who signed up to be considered. For those who actually get picked by the BOS to serve, please know it will be a miserable thankless job that may or may not be of use, but thank you for serving all the same.

To the public, so far as I know the TAC meetings will be open to the public (to observe, not participate) so I hope you'll all note the meeting dates and plan to be there. (Get off this blog, all you Sewer Jihadis, and go to the meetings with your ears open, please. No good screeching at me or each other about some Sewerish Something or Other if you won't get off your duffs and go speak with actual "advisors.")

And, Finally, Proof Positive Why America Is Doomed!

Went to see the movie "300" Sunday. Paper noted the interesting addition of: "I.D. Required," code for This Movie Is NOT For Kids. "300" certainly qualifies. A visually stunning recreation of an "illustrated novel" (i.e. "adult comic book), it's done in a style that's reminiscent of those bronzed/sepia-toned lowering-sky, high-end car commercials and/or XBox Play Station Kill Everything In Sight Games and since it's about the Spartans vs the Persians, it's all about stabbing and hacking and killing and decapitating and stomping and jabbing and poking and falling off cliffs and teeth-gnashing and raping and slaughtering by the thousands as the Spartan 300 (actually there were about 1,000 Thesbians there, too) held off the hoards of Xerxes' Persian Army at The Hot Gates, where the 300 died to a man.

In short, a typical PlayStation Game Movie. Which is why, apparently, the theatre had a bunch of families in there with their 8, 9, 12, 13 year-old kids and tubs of popcorn. When one such family trooped in, I asked the little kid plooped down next to me, "Uh, How old are you?" "I'm nine," he proudly declared. I leaned over and asked his Dad,"Uh, the newspaper said 'I.D. Required' for this movie. Were you 'carded' when you bought tickets?" "Nope," said he. "Oh," I replied, "Just wondering. They usually reserve 'I.D. required' for movies with extreme violence and/or adult sexual content." Daddy stared blankly at me.

Whilst all the hacking and blood spurting and beheading and slicing and raping was going on, I noticed not one family said, "Ooops, I think we didn't realize that this wasn't a Disney film and can see now that it's WILDLY inappropriate for our young kids to see," and so took their kids outta there.

Nope. Not a bit of it. It was popcorn munching all round as heads and blood spattered across the visual fields and minds of these young kids. While their parents sat there enjoying it all.

As I said, the kids probably just thought it was just another PlayStation Kill Game. I have no doubt their parents felt the same way.

The theatre manager shrugged it all off. Not her problem. So much for MPAA ratings.

Bang! Bang!

Uh, Oh. Ron's Writing Letters Again

"County Supervisors Get Letters, Lots and lots of letters. . . letterrrrrs! (including one from me)"wherein Ron Crawford over at www.sewerwatch.blogspot.com writes a letter to his supervisor. Well, inquiriing minds want to know and Ron's still bird-dogging those Tri W Park amenities.