6/30/2009

Peak Oil Blues Blog

The Peak Oil Blues Blog: "Exploring Emotional Reactions to Peak Oil, Climate Change, and Economic Collapse"

A one stop shop for your American Panic Attack.

6/29/2009

Raw Deal


So I'm reading Bill Marler on the Nestle cookie dough e. coli outbreak. While I agree with his stance on blaming the victim (apparently, Nestle is faulting the parents who let their children eat the raw dough--nice, right?), I'm also wondering who are these freaking people who eat raw dough or let their kids eat raw dough? At my house, my child has to don a Biohazard suit whenever she's near anything raw. Meat, when I allow it to cross my threshold, is cooked to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

What really got me, however, was this post on his blog. His point in listing the numerous food terrorist incidents is to point out how inadequate and inept our current food safety systems are no matter the cause. It's so incredibly infuriating, particularly when you read about the severity of the illness, and most particularly in children.

BUT, what really got me was the food terrorism list in that post. I mean, I'm aware of Alexander Litvinenko and his polonium-laced food. FINE. That kind of thing happens when you're a KGB agent. It's an occupational hazard. But wait...what's this about cyanide-laced grapes from Chile, or a Michigan supermarket employee tainting hundreds of pounds of ground beef with an insecticide. Say what?? Why didn't I hear about that?

When he gets to the botulism modeling at Stanford, I could barely keep reading, because I was totally freaking out. It's things like this that edge me closer than ever to Julianne Moore-at-the-end-of-the-movie-Safe-porcelain-igloo territory.

But really, there's nothing funny about it. And tonight I'm having spaghetti for dinner--again.

6/12/2009

Coyotez in the 'Hood

While the nation is focused on the active shooter scenario and the weird DHS booklet that identifies what an active shooter is ("...an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area," just FYI), I'm more worried about the 2009 coyote uprising.

Canis latrans is mad as hell and he's not going to take it. This blog is keeping tabs on this phenomenon and other animal uprisings. In Denver it's been building to a fever pitch all spring. Here's my favorite quote:
"These are coyotes that were born and raised in the 'hood," said Liza Hunholz, an area manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Soundtrack by Eazy-E.