Read this article about alleged and massive improprieties (putting it politely as table talk must always be polite)  in the NO on 37 campaign.  Shame.  From  World Banoosh.

Voters and FBI put on alert: Massive deceptions found in the No on 37 campaign, all documented

Posted by: Mr.M on 7 November, 2012 in us Leave a comment

 

Campaign supporters of genetically manipulated foods could soon find themselves involved in a federal criminal investigation, related to their own manipulation of voters in California’s hotly debated Proposition 37.

Even as ballots are still being cast in the battle over the measure, which would require labeling for genetically modified (GM) foods, the fight is taking an unexpected turn – straight into FBI headquarters. The agency reportedly contacted an attorney for the CA Right to Know campaign, in response to an official complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Justice on October 18, which cited numerous, and likely criminal, actions by the “No on 37″ campaign.

Opponents of the Prop 37 ballot measure were reportedly caught red-handed spouting lie after lie in campaign advertisements distributed in recent weeks. In one advertisement – the one that’s now getting the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – campaign backers featured the FDA logo just below this direct quote: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says a labeling policy like Prop 37 would be ‘inherently misleading’.”

The only problem is that the FDA denies it ever made any such statement… Woops. This means, as stated in the CA Right to Know official complaint, that “the use of the FDA’s seal and authority for political purposes appears to be in clear violation of criminal statutes.” Though the FBI has not yet said whether it will move forward with a formal investigation, the agency has referred the complaint to the FDA for further inquiry. At this time, CA Right to Know is confident the matter is “being taken seriously by all relevant agencies.”

‘No on 37′ gets caught in its own sticky web of lies.

But the FDA isn’t the only group claiming they’ve been misrepresented in anti-Prop 37 campaign materials. In fact, the laundry list of misdeeds appears to be quite long, even by the assessments of the Sacramento Bee, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News, who have described the group’s ads as misleading.

According to a press statement issued by CA Right to Know (http://www.carighttoknow.org/documented_deceptions) which has been well and thoroughly documented, statements made by the National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics indicate those organizations were also grossly misrepresented by the “No on 37″ campaign, in the official California Voter Guide. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics even went so far as to subsequently issue its own press release to voters, expressing concerns over the misrepresentation, and clarifying its position that “the Academy supports consumers right to know what ingredients are in the foods they purchase to feed their families.”

In fact, the only group named on that voter guide list of opponents to Prop 37 that really do oppose it is the American Council on Science and Health, which is really just a “notorious front group for the pesticide industry and climate change deniers”, says CA Right to Know. Its list of documented deceptions goes on to expose other front groups which may at first seem well-meaning and harmless – groups like the “Coalition for Literacy” (formerly an anti-tobacco Prop 27 opponent back in May), the Cops Voting Guide (a man named Kelley Moran who’s actual profession is “political consultant”), and Californians Vote Green (whose website’s only help in determining why they might oppose the measure is to “please direct inquiries to Paul”).

But who would pay for a campaign of such lies and trickery? Only the very same organizations that have been pulling the wool over the eyes of American consumers for decades. To date, biotech industry giants have donated in excess of $41 million dollars to defeat the labeling initiative. But no amount of “hush money” can hide the truth forever. Whether Prop 37 passes at California polls on Tuesday or not, Americans all over the country are already waking up to the truth about GMO and reclaiming their right to know.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.carighttoknow.org/fbi_contacts
http://www.carighttoknow.org/documented_deceptions
http://www.carighttoknow.org/deptofjustice
http://www.kpbs.org
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com (31786)

Too Thin is Too Thin - Period.

Below is one Mom's campaign to stop J.C. Penney's from using ultra thin mannequins in their stores.  This foisting off on American women a false image of beauty has really gone too far.  Just the other day I was waited on in Macy's by an otherwise nice looking, sweet young woman who looked like she was just rescued from Dachau.I wanted to call up her mother and say "Do you know what your daughter is doing to herself?!"

Is this our vision of wholesome womanhood?  I thought we had progressed, but I guess not.  Have you seen the Korean Air commercials with the long legged, skinny, tall flight attendant models? 

Bad enough that Vogue and other fashion magazines still do it, but no one is that thin naturally. Think anorexia or a very serious medical condition.

From http://www.change.org/petitions/jc-penney-reconsider-the-size-and-proportion-of-your-mannequins?utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition  the story and petition:

Petitioning JC Penney

This petition will be delivered to:

JC Penney

JC Penney: Reconsider the size and proportion of your mannequins!

by Dae Sheridan

Temple Terrace, FL

Sign this petition

with 3,937 supporters

51,063 NEEDED

Outside U.S.?

Optional

Display my signature publicly

By signing, you accept Change.org's terms of service and privacy policy.

Dear JC Penney~
A few days ago I was in your store and one of your women’s mannequins in the center aisle was wearing a pair of your “super-skinny” jeans.  It was a staggering image that truly disturbed me. The legs on the mannequin were not just “super-skinny”, they were extraordinarily, shockingly thin.  So thin, that the mannequin’s leg was the same size as my arm!  So thin, that it made me stop, take a picture, and discuss it with my family, and not one of us could figure out who these pants were for.
Now, I realize that lots of people have, and will continue to walk on by, unfazed by that same mannequin.  Maybe it’s because they are busy with their back-to-school shopping, maybe it’s because they are more focused on other things… but my greatest fear is that nobody notices because of the way the media, retailers such as yourselves, and popular magazines portray the female body.

Nobody notices because of the saturation of an unrealistic thin-ideal and beauty standard in our culture which teaches girls and women to attempt to "achieve" impossible proportions. People walk by, faced with emaciated chic and famine fashion, because sadly, this is becoming our “new normal”.
Super-thin images of unrealistic "perfection" are everywhere and lead healthy, beautiful girls to feel "less than." That internalized pressure, stress and shame leads to irrational thoughts about their bodies and a decreased sense of self-worth. The long term effects of bombarding girls with messages that say "you are not OK as you are” can include low self-esteem, body dysmorphia , problems with trust and relationships, anxiety, depression and other mood disruptions, self-medication with alcohol and other drugs, eating disorders, seeking external validation and suicide attempts.

According to a recent study, 81% of ten-year-old girls are afraid of being fat and adolescent girls were more fearful of gaining weight than getting cancer, nuclear war or their parents dying. I take no issue with skinny jeans or skinny people.  I love fashion and I recognize how important it is to keep yourself at a healthy weight. This is not about body diversity or fashion trends.  This is about a major retailer choosing to advertise with unrealistic portrayals of the human body. This was not a "thin" mannequin, it was two malnourished poles with jeans on them, and I refuse to encourage retailers to SELL this image to our children.

I posted that picture on my Facebook page and was overwhelmed by the responses I received.  I think my absolute favorite was the simple comment, "Legs are bigger than arms, people. Just be comfortable in your own skin."  I couldn't have said it better myself, JC Penney.  What about you?
You have made some lovely and generous gestures towards families lately, however I would much prefer that you consider the size and proportion of the mannequins you use to market your clothing so that my children feel good about themselves on the inside rather than having a snazzy free haircut making them look good on the outside.

Yours truly,
Dae C. Sheridan
Mother of  Two
Licensed Psychotherapist
Board Certified Clinical Sexologist
Certified Rehabilitation Counselor
Professor of Human Sexuality
www.DrDae.com
813-431-8292

Petition Letter

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: JC Penney.

----------------
Reconsider the size and proportion of your mannequins!

The saturation of an unrealistic thin-ideal and beauty standard in our culture teaches girls and women to attempt to "achieve" impossible proportions.

The long term effects of bombarding girls with these messages can include low self-esteem, body dysmorphia , problems with trust and relationships, anxiety, depression and other mood disruptions, self-medication with alcohol and other drugs, eating disorders, seeking external validation and suicide attempts. I refuse to allow retailers to "sell" this to my children.

You have made some lovely and generous gestures towards families lately, however I would much prefer that you consider the size and proportion of the mannequins you use to market your clothing so that my children feel good about themselves on the inside rather than having a snazzy free haircut making them look good on the outside.

p.s. LEGS ARE BIGGER THAN ARMS!
----------------

Sincerely,

[Your name]

You are What you eat - Tips for the Campaign Trail

This is from our friends at the great blog: Campaign Sick. Read these words from the Mom and take heed (don't tell the Republicans):

 My Mom Tells You What To Eat

My momma!

Have you ever thought to yourself, “man, I wish I had a Jewish mother telling me what to eat on the campaign trail?” Probably not. But mine is a Nutritionist Registered Dietitian and she has generously offered some advice to keep you healthy for the next couple of months! I’m going to offer this disclaimer that I know it is not realistic to expect any organizer to follow these rules 100% of the time, (I already talked my mom down from her suggestion that you eat non-fat cheese sticks and yogurt instead of pizza) but in the spirit of rule 5, let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Ladies and broworkers, I give you, my mommy:
_____________________________________________________________________________________

I have second hand experience with the campaign trail but my first hand experienced daughter informs me that it can be quite the challenge to maintain any sort of a healthful diet while working in the field.

As a registered dietitian, and, well, someone with common sense, it comes as no surprise that poor eating habits will only serve to sap the much needed energy one needs to campaign. I offer therefore my suggestions for easy ways to maintain a healthful diet for anyone with a very busy job, limited income and very little if any time prepare your own food.

The microwave oven and office refrigerator can be your best food friends on the trail. The grocery store freezer section, as well as the produce aisle and the dairy section are filled with ready- made low-calorie, low-fat foods that are both low cost and flavorful.

In the produce section choose fruit that is in season. Not only will this fruit be the lowest cost, but it will also have the best taste. Fruits that you can buy in larger quantities but that do not spoil quickly are apples, pears, and oranges (think clementines!). These are all fruits that are coming into the groceries stores now at good prices. Keep the fruit in the refrigerator but be sure to grab a few on your way out to knock doors. That way when your stomach growls you will have a handy and delicious snack.

Pre-made bagged salads allow you to rip open a bag, add a little (no more than 2 tablespoons) of dressing or better yet use lemon juice with a small amount of healthful oil such as extra-virgin olive oil on your salad and enjoy. Top with one of those foil bags (~3 oz) of tuna packed in oil and you have an instant meal. Add a slice of high-fiber bread if you’d like but keep away from those bagels. Keep in mind¼ of a bagel is the equivalent to one slice of high fiber bread. Don’t forget bags of baby carrots that are a great snack anytime!

Check out the freezer section for individual servings of brands like Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, and Healthy Choice. There is a wide variety of entrées available. Look for the brand on sale and stock up with enough to go a week or two depending on freezer space at your home or office. A few minutes inthe microwave and you have a tasty meal without splurging on excess calories, fat or sodium (check the nutrition label).

Can’t stop yourself when the late night pizza comes in the door along with your co-workers? Limit yourself to one slice and add your own heaping topping of salad or chopped spinach (raw or cooked).

Need a sweet treat? Buy individual Dixie cups of ice cream instead of a big container. The proper portion size is premeasured for you and should be just enough to fend off binges. Or if you are more of a cookie person, try chocolate (or your favorite flavor) of graham crackers. 2-4 squares provides the sweet taste you are looking for without much fat and with a little fiber as a bonus. Cereal bars and fiber bars can be a treat as well but check out the calories before you buy. Some of those are over 200 calories, about the same as many candy bars.

Want something great you can share around the office? Popcorn! Skip the prepackaged microwave brands which are not only expensive but usually full of fat and chemicals. Instead opt for a bag of kernels that is sure to last until well after election day. An air popper or a plastic pot (microwave safe with air holes to let steam escape) can be used over and over again. Each person can top their
own generous popped portion of 2-3 cups. CampaignSick’s Nancy Leeds recommends crumble dried seaweed snacks. Other ideas are sea salt (be sure not to overdo it), a few tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese or a few shakes of herb seasoning.

Now that you have the tools, you’ll be able to campaign, keep your weight in check and keep your energy up until November 6th. May the best candidates win!

Sari Schlussel-Leeds, MS, RD, CDN

Ya Gotta Love the Pizza Guy!

This is from Venice for Change.  Too good to miss:

Yelp Becomes Political Battleground For Obama-Hugging Pizza Parlor Owner

 
The Yelpers have been going wild since Republican pizza guy picked up the President in a giant bear hug the other day.  First it was right wing wackos saying don't eat the pizza, yuck.  Then the Democrats got in on the act.  Yelp has never seen anything like it.

If you love the pizza, love the prez, stop on by and eat the pie! 

Soylent Green: It's What's for Dinner

We thought we’d be served some red meat by Paul Ryan in his Convention speech last night, but I felt like I got my blood sucked instead.

                                                                  

 I can still feel the fang marks.  He not only looks like a vampire, his seductive blue eyes and deceptive boyish good looks are geared toward taking you by surprise when the fangs go in.  Soon we may all be a nation of the undead if the Republican have their way. 

                                      Paul Ryan and Eddie Muster: Separated at Birth?

The meat they offering is just pink slime dressed up in Republican red white and blue.  Or is it something worse?

No red meat, or even rattlesnake that tastes like chicken, they offer up a diet of lies, devoid of nutrition, but sold in Prime-Time to a nation hungry for answers to the question of why they can’t find work, their kids can’t afford school, their homes are about to be foreclosed on.   Why they can’t afford health insurance.  Ryan glibly says Trust us, we’ll save Medicare.   But they neglect to tell you their savings will cost you dearly when you get to the check- out line and find that you have to pick up more of a bill, despite paying into it all these years.

They say they will create 12 million jobs, but they don’t say how or where.  (And oh surprise, the projection of 12 million jobs is about right for the economy anyway, that is, nothing they do has anything to do with it, and if they really were the job creators, they’re figures would be way higher than average.) Not everyone can come out of a community college and go into investment banking. Will these jobs be in China? Maybe they’ll export American workers the way they exported their money.  Set up work camps in China where you can answer tech support questions for pennies a day and sleep five to a room.

Their biggest lie is that giving tax breaks to the rich makes them into “job creators.”  Well, where’s the beef?, as the little old lady used to say.  Mitt Romney says trust me to fix what’s wrong with this country; I’m a successful businessman.   But success to these parasites means something very different than it to does t the average American taxpayer.  According  to Rolling Stone, Bain Capital, which Romney boasts about, was nothing but another blood sucking corporation not interested in “creating jobs” but in looting the treasuries of the companies they gobbled up.  There’s the red meat, unfortunately the meat of the working families sucked dry in the wake of the Romney and his “successful” business dealings.  Successful for him.  Tragic for you and me.  Let’s listen between the lines of the right wing rhetoric as they try to tell us how being a successful business man translates into being a successful leader of a nation. 

  

Sure Romney was successful in business; his success comes at our expense. He got rich. You didn’t.  And another thing,  While he boasts about tithing to his church, he refuses to tell us how much (if anything) he’s  tithed to his Country over the past several years.    Show us the tax returns Mitt.

When will Americans wake up out of their dream of pulling themselves up by bootstraps they don’t have and into an economy that people like Romney have already shipped overseas?   These people are in for themselves. They get the meat, we get the trickled down juices that spill out of their bloodied mouths. Worse, we are the meat. They would be very happy to turn all of the working Americans into their own version of Soylant green.  It’s what for Republican dinner.

Se

"Four and Twenty Tax Returns Baked into a Pie"

In the ongoing high stakes "Stump the Chef" game, some missing tax returns had yet to turn up in the Romney kitchen cabinets.  Health inspector Harry Reid made a surprise visit to Chez Romney following a tip there might be vermin in the house.   At the very least some moldy food in the form of ten years worth of head chef Romney's IRS documents.

They aren't in the refrigerator or under the sink, so could they have been baked into the pie cooling on the window ledge and which the kitchen cabinet crew plans to savor themselves, not serve up to the voting public.  People are hungry for news.  They're starving for facts and he who holds the key to knowledge - i.e. Kingpin of the Kitchen Romney sneers, (reminiscent of the wonderful John Huston movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre.) "Taxes, taxes? I don't got to show you no stinkin' taxes."  Let them eat stone soup, or should that we stonewall stew?

As the plot unfolds, the question remains, as the little old lady asked looking under the lettuce on her fast food burger in the famous commercial: "Where's the beef?" or in this case, where are the tax returns, Mr. Romney?

Any good chef knows if you leave key ingredients out of a recipe, you'll be courting culinary disaster.  As all presidential candidates who've come before him, including Daddy George, Romney needs to dish up those returns, if he hopes to have a chance on the big cook-off in November.  It's not up to food detective Reid (as some suggest, most recently San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders), to provide the missing ingredients for the campaign stew.  His is but to sniff around the kitchen and see what's fit to eat. Locked cabinets and barred doors do not engender trust in public servants protecting the health and safety of the dining public nor in said dines themselves. 

It's no longer about whether or not he actually paid taxes for ten years, nor how much; it's now all about the secrets in the kitchen.  Is this next few weeks going to be a rerun of Kitchen Confidential on steroids?

Don't blame Harry Reid for asking the tough questions. Blame the Romney kitchen crew and the top chef himself for hiding the most basic of information from the dining and voting public.  Could it be he doesn't want the truth to come out about how little a multi-millionaire pays in taxes compared to the average American? Maybe he's afraid they'll do the math and see that the only way the rich get richer is for the poor to get poorer. And that's the crux of the Romney tax plan:  Water down the soup and make the chumps pay more for it.

As James Carville famously put it: "The only person who has seen Romney's taxes is John McCain and he took one look and picked Sarah Palin."

Our First Dish - Bain will bring down Romney yet

Romney and Bain Capital: Was he or wasn’t he?

The Romney/Bain Capital scandal is a delicious soap opera, getting more juicy by the day.  Now we learn that not only were they busily outsourcing jobs, during the period Romney claimed not to be involved, but they invested in an aborted fetus dumping company, which the right wing anti-choice crowd compares to the Nazis.  The contentious issue is whether he, as chairman of the board, CEO and owner, listed on the SEC filings as late as 2002, after claiming to have left control in 1999, to go to the Olympics (No, he wasn’t in the competitive hair-gel category), was actually responsible for these decisions, or at least had knowledge of them.

The consensus seems to be, ”Duh, well of course!”  At least among the Democratic pundits.  Romney’s own camp says, well, he was much too busy pulling the Olympics’ fat out of the fire to be concerned with the day to day trivialities of his own company.  

If a recent down ticket race in California is any indicator, the Democratic consensus will win out in the mind of the electorate, anyway.

Stacey Lawson and the California Second Congressional District Race:

In this race, neophyte wannabe Stacey Lawson touted her credentials as a “job creator,”  claiming she was the only one who had created hundreds, thousands, or maybe 50 (depending on what day it was) jobs in various start-ups she worked with.  She was maddeningly vague about her roles and it became clear that she was exaggerating her importance to any jobs created, at the least. 

Soon enough, information surfaced about one of her more recent start-ups, of which she was actually held the title of Chair of the Board. (or to use a food analogy, Head Chef.) This company, Chelsey Henry, had failed to remit its payroll taxes, collected from employees for a number of quarters, to the government, both State (Washington) and Federal.  Additionally, it was learned that the business outsourced its product production (high end women’s handbags) to China. 

This information emerged in a key debate and was quickly picked up by major news outlets in the District, as well as an anonymous website entitled “Who is Stacey Lawson?”   (Which itself sparked a mouth-watering buzz in the blogosphere.)  Ms. Lawson compounded her culpability by making several contradictory and misleading statements about her relationship with the company.  First she claimed it filed bankruptcy after the discrepancies were discovered.  Later she had to correct herself when confronted with the fact that the company was actually taken over by one of its many creditors. 

Then she claimed she and the other board members “rectified” the errors in reporting once they learned of it. (They did not and sums owed were still outstanding when the company was acquired by the creditor).  She showed a remarkable lack of understanding of the role of Chair of a corporate board, and these failings, along with a dismal voting history,  led to her being seen as a less than credible candidate. Instead of being the runner up in California’s first open-primary, which would have pitted  two Democrats against each other,  she finished a weak fourth, despite an incredible war chest filled by investment bankers and venture capitalists.

A Lesson for Democrats in the Presidential Election:

Even though her role with Chelsey Henry was not as great as that of Romney in Bain, the lessons are the same.  As Chair, it was her responsibility to know what was happening with the company.  Romney, as Chief Cook and Bottle Washer and sole shareholder of Bain, is even more culpable for these shortcomings.  His claims to have kept out of the kitchen when the sausage was being made will not play well with the electorate, so long as the story stays alive. That should be the Democrats number one job between now and the election.  Keep the Bain Capital story in the press and in the minds of the voters.   

Maybe in the heady world of venture capital and money management, it’s no big deal, but to the average American, who has to watch every penny, every transaction, and every loaf of bread, it’s  majorly huge.  Or it should be  If a business man claims his way of doing business is good for the country, make darned sure you know what his way is.  Pink Slime in a béarnaise sauce is still just as bad for you.

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